Beyond the expected reduction in the Fe2+ concentration in eWAT (Fig. 7E), DFO treatment induced four phenotypes in lung cancer cachexia model mice: (i) reduced MDA and lipid ROS levels in eWAT (Fig. 7F, G); (ii) alleviation of weight loss and wasting of eWAT and iWAT (Fig. 7I, J); (iii) alleviation of the pathological morphology of iWAT (Fig. 7K); (iv) reduced expression of ferroptosis-related genes (Ncoa4, Slc39a8, Slc3a2, Slc39a14, Pcbp2, and Sat1) (Additional file 1: Fig. S7B). Here, PCBP2 is linked to lung cancer.