This environment fosters distinct metabolic phenotypes: cancer cells adopt an "iron-utilizing" state characterized by increased hepcidin and TFR1 expression alongside reduced ferritin levels, while lymphocytes and macrophages exhibit an "iron-donor" state marked by upregulated ferroportin 1 (FPN1) and ferritin expression, combined with elevated hepcidin and TFR1 levels 56. The gene discussed is TFRC; the disease is cancer.