ReviewThe Lancet. Oncology2008
Does iron have a role in breast cancer?
Review in The Lancet. Oncology, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 109 citations in OpenAlex.
- Targeting Ferroptosis as the Achilles' Heel of Breast Cancer: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Opportunities from a Comprehensive Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review on the impact of nutrition and possible supplementation on the deficiency of vitamin complexes, iron, omega-3-fatty acids, and lycopene in relation to increased morbidity in women after menopause.Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2024Pooled it
- Iron intake, body iron status, and risk of breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC cancer · 2019Pooled it
- Dietary and stored iron as predictors of breast cancer risk: A nested case-control study in Shanghai.International journal of cancer · 2009Trial
- Emerging role of plant-based compounds as ferroptosis modulators in breast cancer.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026Review
- A narrative review on critical roles of iron levels in skin tone, aging, and photoaging.International journal of women's dermatology · 2026Review
- Altered trace and toxic element profiles in breast tissue: a case-control study of cancer risk.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- The role of redox-active iron, copper, manganese, and redox-inactive zinc in toxicity, oxidative stress, and human diseases.EXCLI journal · 2025Review
- Redox-Regulated Iron Metabolism and Ferroptosis in Ovarian Cancer: Molecular Insights and Therapeutic Opportunities.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Metals on the Menu-Analyzing the Presence, Importance, and Consequences.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Micronutrient Status and Breast Cancer: A Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Iron chelators: as therapeutic agents in diseases.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2024Review
- Concomitant medication, comorbidity and survival in patients with breast cancer.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Targeting the initiator to activate both ferroptosis and cuproptosis for breast cancer treatment: progress and possibility for clinical application.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Review
- Iron as a therapeutic target in chronic liver disease.World journal of gastroenterology · 2023Review
- Diabetes and two kinds of primary tumors in a patient with thalassemia: a case report and literature review.Frontiers in oncology · 2023Article
- Prevalence of Iron Deficiency and its Association With Breast Cancer in Premenopausal Compared to Postmenopausal Women in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.Cancer informatics · 2023Article
- Prognostic Value of Serum Transferrin Analysis in Patients with Ovarian Cancer and Cancer-Related Functional Iron Deficiency: A Retrospective Case-Control Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Iron Overload and Breast Cancer: Iron Chelation as a Potential Therapeutic Approach.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Oestrogen and family history are two of the most important risk factors for breast cancer. However, these risk factors cannot explain the differences in the incidence and recurrence of breast cancer between premenopausal and postmenopausal women. In this paper I propose that, in premenopausal women, an iron deficiency caused by menstruation stabilises hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha, which increases the formation of vascular endothelial growth factor. This mechanism results in premenopausal women being more susceptible to angiogenesis and, consequently, leads to a high recurrence of breast cancer. Conversely, increased concentrations of iron in postmenopausal women, as a result of menstrual cessation, contribute to a high incidence of breast cancer via oxidative-stress pathways. Although the focus of this Personal View is on iron, this by no means negates the roles of other known risk factors in breast-cancer development. Characterisation of the role of iron in breast cancer could potentially benefit patients by decreasing recurrence and incidence and increasing overall survival.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.