A focus on copper depletion-induced cuproptosis for cancer therapy

Abstract

Copper has emerged as a promising target for cancer therapy, with extensive studies on copper accumulation-induced cuproptosis. However, the potential of copper depletion-induced cuproptosis remains largely unexplored. Recently, Zhou et al. (M. Zhou, F. Muhammad, Y. Zhang, T. Li, J. Feng, J. Zhao and H. Wei, Chem. Sci., 2025, https://doi.org/10.1039/D4SC04712E) reported an innovative strategy for copper depletion-based cuproptosis. Notably, this approach leverages the solubility product principle, a mechanism not previously addressed in studies, to achieve effective tumor therapy through the disruption of copper homeostasis.