Figure 1.

Different approaches for cancer therapy related to glutathione functions. High levels of glutathione (GSH) observed in the majority of tumors combined with its role in tumorigenesis, inflammation response and tumor microenvironment properties are explored for different therapy approaches. Direct approaches are aimed at blocking synthesis of GSH leading to ferroptosis of cells or more efficient chemotherapy; indirect methods target inflammation response or tumor microenvironment in order to make tumors more susceptible to the response of the immune system as well as immunotherapies; elevated levels of GSH and possibly other active molecules in tumor cells are used in the prodrug approach, where the drug is only activated after entering tumor cells utilizing GSH in the activation reaction or neutralizing it following activation with other factors.