The Dual Nature of Iron in Relation to Cancer: A Review

Abstract

Background: Although iron is essential for all cells, it could be potentially hazardous. This is mostly due to iron participation in oxidation-reduction reactions. In terms of cancer risk, the role of both iron deficiency and overload can be studied in two directions, protective or therapeutic effects, and carcinogenic effects. Materials and Methods:PubMed, Science direct, Ovid, Proquest, Medline, and Google scholar databases were used to obtain articles identified by using the key words "Iron", "Iron deficiency", "Iron overload", "Cancer", and "Neoplasm" without any time limit. The relevance of studies was identified by reviewing the titles and the abstracts. 185 articles published in English, including experimental, observational, molecular and cellular studies were reviewed. Results and Conclusion:Considering the dual nature of iron, maintaining an optimal iron level in the body is important. This can be achieved when regulatory mechanisms of body iron level work properly and the amount of iron input is within the physiological range. Current evidence generally supports this possibility that higher animal-derived (heme) iron may increase the risk of some cancers. The release of iron or nitrosyl heme from iron complexes during some processing of meat may increase production of cancer promoter lipoperoxides. On the other hand, use of iron chelation or iron mediated oxidative assault for the treatment or prevention of cancer appears to be promising; but further research is required. Considering this background, this article reviews the literature and evidence, focusing on the role of iron overload and deficiency in developing and treatment of various cancers.

Comparison of Elemental Anomalies Following Implantation of Different Cell Lines of Glioblastoma Multiforme in the Rat Brain: A Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy Study

“…Therefore, regulation of iron levels is crucial for proper cell functioning . Both iron overload and its deficiency may play important roles in the mechanisms of carcinogenesis. − Schonberg et al . observed that stem-like GBM cells are characterized by increased iron uptake compared to the remaining GBM and normal brain cells, and this mechanism may affect tumor proliferation.…”

Elevated SFXN2 limits mitochondrial autophagy and increases iron-mediated energy production to promote multiple myeloma cell proliferation

“…Second, dietary or cellular iron has a double nature in relation to tumorigenesis. Either iron deficiency or over sufficiency may cause cellular stresses, thus altering the autophagic status even cell death [ 41 , 42 ]. Cancer cells develop a dependence on iron well over that of their non-malignant counterparts, which is termed as “iron addiction” [ 43 ].…”

Obesity and Pancreatic Cancer: Its Role in Oncogenesis

“…The estimated prevalence of obesity-associated cancers is 684,000 US annually, including 210,000 among men and 470,000 among women, per CDC data. The evidence of obesity-associated cancers is consistent with breast cancer in postmenopausal women, adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, colon, endometrium, gall bladder, gastric, renal cell, pancreas, thyroid, meningioma, and multiple myeloma [15,16].…”