生物系统中的活性氧 (ROS) 是短暂但重要的分子，由一组复杂的、微妙平衡的分子机器产生和消除。氧化还原稳态的破坏与多种人类疾病有关，尤其是癌症，其中活性氧水平的增加被认为在肿瘤的发生和进展中发挥着重要作用。因此，通过靶向 ROS 及其调节机制来调节细胞氧化还原状态被认为是一种有前景的癌症治疗策略。最近，该领域取得了重大进展，包括发现了影响肿瘤微环境中肿瘤细胞和免疫细胞代谢的新型氧化还原信号通路，以及有趣的生物分子相分离的ROS调节。在探索癌症干细胞中的氧化还原调节、ROS 在决定细胞命运中的作用以及针对 ROS 的新型抗癌药物方面也取得了进展。本综述讨论了这些研究进展及其对癌症治疗和药物发现的影响，以及新兴概念、悖论和未来前景。© 2024。施普林格自然有限公司。

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) in biological systems are transient but essential molecules that are generated and eliminated by a complex set of delicately balanced molecular machineries. Disruption of redox homeostasis has been associated with various human diseases, especially cancer, in which increased ROS levels are thought to have a major role in tumour development and progression. As such, modulation of cellular redox status by targeting ROS and their regulatory machineries is considered a promising therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment. Recently, there has been major progress in this field, including the discovery of novel redox signalling pathways that affect the metabolism of tumour cells as well as immune cells in the tumour microenvironment, and the intriguing ROS regulation of biomolecular phase separation. Progress has also been made in exploring redox regulation in cancer stem cells, the role of ROS in determining cell fate and new anticancer agents that target ROS. This Review discusses these research developments and their implications for cancer therapy and drug discovery, as well as emerging concepts, paradoxes and future perspectives.© 2024. Springer Nature Limited.