Photo-Activated Ferroptosis for Cancer Therapy: Advances, Challenges, and Prospects

Ferroptosis, a recently identified form of non-apoptotic programmed cell death, has attracted significant attention in the field of cancer therapy due to its unique mechanism of cell death. To meet the demands of ferroptosis-mediated cancer treatment, several small molecule-based drugs have been reported for the implementation of ferroptosis. However, some cancer cells are inherently resistant to these drugs, and the lack of selectivity of these drugs against cancer cells can limit their clinical application. Recent advancements in light-mediated biomedical techniques offer a promising alternative for the development of ferroptotic therapy, that is photo-controlled activation of ferroptosis. In this review, we systematically summarize the current strategies for photo-controlled ferroptosis activation and detail analysis of the underlying mechanisms of those photo-controlled ferroptotic therapies. Finally, we discuss the challenges associated with photo-activated ferroptosis and provide an outlook on the future developments in ferroptotic cancer therapy.