Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains one of the most aggressive and deadly forms of blood cancer, even as treatments have advanced in recent years. Standard approaches like high-dose chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants can extend life but often come at the cost of severe side effects — and many patients still relapse due to drug-resistant cancer cells. A research team led by Natasha Kirienko at Rice University is working to change that by turning the cancer cells’ own energy systems against them.

The development of ferroptosis-based nanotherapeutics is generally limited by poor penetration depth into tumors and potential systemic toxicity. 

In a recent issue of International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, Tu and coworkers from Southern Medical University addressed these challenges by proposing the design and fabrication of self-propelled ferroptosis nanoinducers, composed of only two endogenous proteins with natural bioactivity.

This work offers a strategy for constructing a biocompatible cancer treatment paradigm with enhanced diffusion to achieve deeper penetration into tumor tissues, centered around the concept of ferroptosis.