铁死亡是一种非凋亡形式的细胞死亡，在细胞形态、遗传学和生物化学方面与众所周知的细胞死亡形式有很大不同。细胞铁死亡的三个主要途径是系统 Xc-/谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶 4 (GPX4)、脂质代谢和铁代谢。自发现铁死亡以来，越来越多的证据揭示了其在多种疾病中的关键调节作用，特别是作为癌症治疗的新潜在靶点，从而引起了肿瘤生物学和抗肿瘤治疗领域越来越多的关注。因此，将铁死亡确定为潜在的治疗靶点存在广阔的前景。在这篇综述中，我们旨在系统总结铁死亡的激活和防御机制，突出治疗靶点，并讨论铁死亡调节纳米药物的设计。此外，我们选择介绍当前铁死亡研究的优点和缺点，并对相关领域的未来方向提供乐观的愿景。总体而言，我们的目标是为进一步的铁死亡研究提供新思路，并激发疾病诊断和治疗的新策略。© 2024 作者。

Ferroptosis is a nonapoptotic form of cell death and differs considerably from the well-known forms of cell death in terms of cell morphology, genetics, and biochemistry. The three primary pathways for cell ferroptosis are system Xc-/glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), lipid metabolism, and ferric metabolism. Since the discovery of ferroptosis, mounting evidence has revealed its critical regulatory role in several diseases, especially as a novel potential target for cancer therapy, thereby attracting increasing attention in the fields of tumor biology and anti-tumor therapy. Accordingly, broad prospects exist for identifying ferroptosis as a potential therapeutic target. In this review, we aimed to systematically summarize the activation and defense mechanisms of ferroptosis, highlight the therapeutic targets, and discuss the design of nanomedicines for ferroptosis regulation. In addition, we opted to present the advantages and disadvantages of current ferroptosis research and provide an optimistic vision of future directions in related fields. Overall, we aim to provide new ideas for further ferroptosis research and inspire new strategies for disease diagnosis and treatment.© 2024 The Authors.