In line with the critical regulation of iron pool homeostasis in cancer biology, in our study both iron chelation by deferoxamine, as well as upregulation of TFRC and downregulation of PCBP1 induced by nitroxoline, were associated with increased cell death, whereas the combination of deferoxamine and nitroxoline drastically blunted the effect of either agent on cell death. This evidence concerns the gene PCBP1 and cancer.