已发表论文

铜代谢、铜死亡及其在肿瘤诊断和治疗中的调控机制研究进展

 

Authors Wang R, Wang F, Xu Y, Sun W, Jiang P, Guo Y, Yu QQ 

Received 19 June 2025

Accepted for publication 1 December 2025

Published 22 January 2026 Volume 2026:18 546059

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/CMAR.S546059

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 2

Editor who approved publication: Professor Yong Teng

Rui Wang,1,* Fei Wang,2,* Yuting Xu,2,* Weiwei Sun,1 Pei Jiang,3 Yujin Guo,4 Qing-Qing Yu5 

1School of Stomatology, Jining Medical University, Jining, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Jining NO.1. People’s Hospital, Jining, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 3Translational Pharmaceutical Laboratory, Jining NO.1 People’s Hospital, Jining, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Jining NO.1 People’s Hospital, Jining, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 5Clinical Research Center, Jining NO.1. People’s Hospital, Jining, Shandong, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Qing-Qing Yu, Clinical Research Center, Jining NO.1. People’s Hospital, Jining, Shandong, 27200, People’s Republic of China, Email yuqingqing_lucky@163.com Yujin Guo, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Jining NO.1 People’s Hospital, Jining, Shandong, 27200, People’s Republic of China, Email gyj99@126.com

Abstract: A co-factor of multiple metalloenzymes that promote normal physiological functions, such as the immune system, neurological system, human hematological function, bone health, and antioxidant action, copper is one of the most important trace metals in the human body. The copper content in the human body maintains a relatively constant level; too much copper can cause Wilson’s disease, and too little can cause Menkes disease. Copper is involved in the physiological functions of many body systems and has a very complex transport system with many transporters. In order to offer fresh concepts and a theoretical foundation for cancer treatment, this article will go into great detail about the distinct metabolic pathways of copper and the function of cell death, particularly the function of copper-controlled cell death, especially cuproptosis, in cancer detection and treatment. Cuproptosis, a copper-dependent cell death distinct from necrosis, apoptosis, and ferroptosis, is triggered by excessive intracellular copper binding to lipoylated tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle proteins, leading to abnormal protein aggregation and loss of iron-sulfur clusters in respiratory chain complexes. Future research may focus on optimizing the specificity of copper metabolism-related biomarkers (eg, CTR1, SOD1) for early tumor screening, developing targeted copper ionophores/chelators with low systemic toxicity, and exploring the crosstalk between copper metabolism and tumor immunity to establish multi-dimensional diagnosis and treatment strategies.

Keywords: copper metabolism, cuproptosis tumor, regulatory mechanism, tumor diagnosis and treatment