Emodin (Figure 2, 12), a bioactive compound exhibiting significant anticancer, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, is widely present in various medicinal herbs including Rheum palmatum, and Polygonum multiflorum (Hassan et al., 2024; Shen et al., 2024) demonstrated that this phytochemical triggers ferroptosis in CRC cells through dual mechanisms involving NCOA4-regulated ferritinophagy and suppression of the NF-κB signaling pathway. This evidence concerns the gene NCOA4 and colorectal carcinoma.