Fig. 2.

The roles of ferroptosis in the tumor environment. The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a dynamic and complex ecosystem comprising cancer cells, stromal cells, diverse subpopulations of immune cells, the blood and lymphatic vasculature, and various metabolic components. Ferroptosis in cancer cells can be triggered by not only the tumor suppressor gene p53, BRCA1-associated protein 1 (BAP1), and Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (KEAP1), but also epigenetic regulator MLL4, which consequently suppress tumor progression. However, it has been demonstrated that some immune cells are also susceptible to ferroptosis. When ferroptosis occurs in immune cells, impaired function of NK cells and DCs, inhibition of T cells, activation of MDSCs, and M2 macrophage polarization are frequently observed, which eventually induce tumor progression in various manners. In conclusion, whether tumor progression is promoted or inhibited depends on the specific cell type in which ferroptosis occurs and its location within the tumor environment. This figure was created with BioRender.com