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Updated: Jan 20, 2026

Author Spotlight: Assessing the Impact of Novel Iron Chelators on Cancer Cell Metabolism
Published on: February 23, 2024
The iron chelator desferrioxamine synergizes with chemotherapy for cancer treatment
Lingjuan Wang1, Xiaoqing Li2, Yanxi Mu3
1Department of Gynecology, Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100050, China; Institute of Reproductive Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, 430030, China.
Background:
Cisplatin (CDDP) resistance remains a major obstacle for treatment of ovarian cancer. Iron contributes to the growth and reproduction of malignant cells, thus iron chalators can inhibit the growth of tumor cells by depleting the intracellular iron pool. The iron chelator, desferrioxamine (DFO), has performed anticancer in previous study. The aim of our study is to determine the correlation between iron-deprivation and tumor chemosensitivity in ovarian cancer.
Methods:
To investigate the prognostic value of ferritin light (FTL), ferroportin (FPN), hepcidin (HAMP) and divalent metal-ion transporter-1 (DMT1) in ovarian cancer, the Kaplan-Meier analysis and the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) were used. The ovarian cancer cell lines (SKOV-3 and OVCAR-3) were exposed to a gradient concentration of DFO (10, 20, 50, 100, 200 μM) and CDDP (1, 5, 10, 50,100 μM) for 24 h. The protein expression of FTL was tested. The expression of cancer stem cell (CSC) markers, including Sox2, Nanog and C-myc, were downregulated with treatment of DFO. Also, the mamosphere formation and the plation of CD44+/high/CD133+/high and Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH)+/high SKOV-3 cells were reduced after treatment for 7d. Furthermore, we detected the expression of p53, BCL-2, BAX, and caspase-8.
Results:
The survival analysis revealed that high expression of FTL, DMT1, HAMP, showed poor overall survival (OS) in ovarian cancer patients. Our combined data found that DFO could effectively inhibit CSCs, improve the resistance to chemotherapy, and significantly enhanced the efficacy of CDDP therapy in vitro in promoting apoptosis. Besides, targeting molecular targets, including BAX, BCL-2, p53 and caspase-8 could serve as the clinical biomarkers to evaluate the effects of ovarian cancer. It is reasonable to believe that DFO adjuvant therapy in combination with CDDP chemotherapy can promote the improvement of treatment response in ovarian cancer patients.
Conclusion:
Our research suggests the experimental evidence for DFO and CDDP as a new effective combination therapy to enhance the efficacy of chemical therapy in ovarian cancer.
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