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REVIEW article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Cancers: Colorectal Cancer
Volume 15 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1499094
This article is part of the Research Topic Diet and Digestive Tract Cancers: Investigating the Nutritional Influences on Gastrointestinal Carcinogenesis View all 5 articles
An overview of the current evidences on the role of iron in colorectal cancer: A review
Provisionally accepted
Mohammad Hasan Yousefi 1,2
Masoumeh Saberi Rounkian 3* Maryam Mansouri 4* Bita Hojat 5* Marzieh Kaveh Samani 4* Razieh Veisi 4*
Hamed Afkhami 2,6,7* Sepideh Saeb 8*- 1 Department of Tissue Engineering and Applied Cell Sciences, School of Medicine, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Qom, Iran
- 2 Cellular and Molecular Research Centre, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran, Qom, Qom, Iran
- 3 Student Research Committee, School of Paramedicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
- 4 Student research committee, Shahrekord university of medical sciences, Shahrekord, Iran
- 5 Student Research Committee, Kermanshah university of Medical Sciences, Kermansha, Iran
- 6 Nervous System Stem Cells Research Center, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Semnan, Iran
- 7 Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran, Tehran, Alborz, Iran
- 8 Department of Allied Medicine, Qaen Faculty of Medical Sciences, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common and lethal malignancy that affects millions of people worldwide. Iron is an essential micronutrient that plays a vital role in various biological processes, but also has prooxidant and pro-inflammatory effects that may contribute to carcinogenesis. The relationship between iron and CRC is complex and influenced by multiple factors, such as dietary intake, absorption, storage, metabolism, and excretion of iron, as well as genetic and environmental factors that modulate iron homeostasis. This review article aims to provide an overview of the current evidences on the role of iron in CRC, discussing the potential mechanisms by which iron may affect CRC development and progression, as well as the implications for prevention and treatment. This review tries to focus on the following aspects: an introduction to iron and its role in CRC, role of heme and non-heme iron in CRC, dietary patterns, nutrition, and CRC, iron overload in CRC, iron deficiency and its role in CRC especially in surgery outcome and iron therapy and blood transfusion in CRC.
Keywords: colorectal cancer, iron metabolism, Heme and non-heme iron, iron therapy, Blood Transfusion, iron deficiency, Iron Overload
Received: 20 Sep 2024; Accepted: 31 Jan 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yousefi, Saberi Rounkian, Mansouri, Hojat, Kaveh Samani, Veisi, Afkhami and Saeb. 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:
Masoumeh Saberi Rounkian, Student Research Committee, School of Paramedicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
Maryam Mansouri, Student research committee, Shahrekord university of medical sciences, Shahrekord, Iran
Bita Hojat, Student Research Committee, Kermanshah university of Medical Sciences, Kermansha, 56131-56491, Iran
Marzieh Kaveh Samani, Student research committee, Shahrekord university of medical sciences, Shahrekord, Iran
Razieh Veisi, Student research committee, Shahrekord university of medical sciences, Shahrekord, Iran
Hamed Afkhami, Cellular and Molecular Research Centre, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran, Qom, Qom, Iran
Sepideh Saeb, Department of Allied Medicine, Qaen Faculty of Medical Sciences, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran
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