Cancer as a Ferrotoxic Disease: Are We Getting Hard Stainless Evidence?

Abstract

Iron is an essential mineral to all human tissues. Incorporated in the heme complex, it is necessary for the hemoglobin-borne transport of oxygen and generation of ATP in the electron transport chain. But iron may also have direct toxic effects, and iron uptake is consequentially tightly regulated in the human body ( 1 ). Recognizing the pro-oxidative properties of iron and its tendency to accumulate with age in properly nourished individuals, investigators have hypothesized that iron might be involved in the causation of many of the chronic diseases that are linked to a Western lifestyle ( 2–4 ), and believers have coined the term “ferrotoxic” disease ( 5 ). For example, sex differences in iron levels have been hypothesized to contribute to the differences between men and women in the risk of cardiovascular disease ( 6 ).