Nanodrug delivery systems for ferroptosis-based cancer therapy

Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent form of cell death accompanied by iron and lipid peroxidase accumulation and has drawn substantial attentions since its first discovery in 2012. Various studies have shown that tumor cells with high tumorigenicity, invasiveness, and metastatic potential are sensitive to ferroptosis. Consequently, many strategies to induce ferroptosis have been used in the design of antitumor nanodrug delivery systems (NDDSs). Prior reviews have thoroughly summarized the mechanism underlying ferroptosis, related pathways, and NDDSs materials. Recent studies have demonstrated that ferroptosis is interacted with several metabolic pathways, and these pathways have provided a basis for designing strategies for NDDSs-induced ferroptosis. Therefore, this review summarizes NDDSs designs for ferroptosis driven by different metabolic pathways, emphasizes the feasibility of inducing ferroptosis in cancer treatment, and finally discusses limitations of NDDSs and future developments in the field.