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MINI REVIEW article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1393195
This article is part of the Research Topic Understanding patient nutrition and cancer progression View all 5 articles

Iron and Cancer: Overview of the Evidence from Population-based Studies

Provisionally accepted
Rola S. Zeidan Rola S. Zeidan *Hyung-Suk Yoon Hyung-Suk Yoon Jae Jeong Yang Jae Jeong Yang Amin Sobh Amin Sobh Dejana Braithwaite Dejana Braithwaite Robert T. Mankowski Robert T. Mankowski Christiaan Leeuwenburgh Christiaan Leeuwenburgh Steve D. Anton Steve D. Anton
  • University of Florida, Gainesville, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Iron is an essential nutrient required for various physiological processes in the body. However, iron imbalance can potentially contribute to initiating and promoting cancer development. Epidemiological studies have investigated the relationship between dietary iron intake and the risk of different types of cancer, yet, not all studies have consistently shown a significant association between dietary iron and cancer risk. Also, studies have shown different effects of dietary heme and non-heme iron intake on cancer risk. While some epidemiological studies suggest a possible link between high dietary iron (mainly heme-iron) intake and increased cancer risk, the evidence remains inconsistent. Moreover, multiple iron biomarkers, which can mirror physiological iron status, have demonstrated varied correlations with the risk of cancer, contingent upon the specific biomarker analyzed and the type of cancer being investigated. Here, we have investigated the current evidence on the potential relationship between dietary iron intake on one hand, and iron biomarkers on the other hand, with the risk of developing different types of cancer, including breast, prostate, lung, pancreatic, colon, colorectal, and liver cancers. Further research is warranted to better understand the complex relationship between dietary iron, physiological iron and cancer development. Future research should account for factors that affect and interact with dietary iron and physiological iron levels, such as genetic susceptibility, overall diet quality, and lifestyle habits.

    Keywords: Iron, Diet, Physiology, Cancer, Epidemiology

    Received: 29 Feb 2024; Accepted: 23 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zeidan, Yoon, Yang, Sobh, Braithwaite, Mankowski, Leeuwenburgh and Anton. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Rola S. Zeidan, University of Florida, Gainesville, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.