GPX4 and cancer: 2007). It is driven by the accumulation of iron-dependent lipid reactive oxygen species (ROS) (Lu et al. 2017). The loss of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) activity and glutathione (GSH) depletion are the main causes of ferroptosis. Erastin, a ferroptosis inducer, is demonstrated to induce ferroptosis through the inhibition of GPX (Dolma et al. 2003). Accumulating evidence has shown that ferroptosis plays a crucial role in cancer cells by enhancing the sensitivity of chemotherapeutic drugs and inhibiting tumour growth (Hangauer et al. 2017; Friedmann Angeli et al. 2019).