Iron fulfils a central role in many essential biochemical processes in human physiology; thus, proper processing of iron is crucial. Although iron metabolism is subject to relatively strict physiological control, numerous disorders, such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, have recently been linked to deregulated iron homeostasis. Consequently, iron metabolism constitutes a promising and largely unexploited therapeutic target for the development of new pharmacological treatments for these diseases. Several iron metabolism-targeted therapies are already under clinical evaluation for haematological disorders, and these and newly developed therapeutic agents are likely to have substantial benefit in the clinical management of iron metabolism-associated diseases, for which few efficacious treatments are currently available.

中文翻译：

---

在药物发现和输送中靶向铁代谢

铁在人类生理学中许多重要的生化过程中起着核心作用。因此，正确处理铁至关重要。尽管铁代谢受到相对严格的生理控制，但最近许多疾病（例如癌症和神经退行性疾病）都与铁稳态失调有关。因此，铁代谢构成了开发用于这些疾病的新药理学方法的有希望且很大程度上未开发的治疗靶标。针对血液疾病的几种针对铁代谢的疗法已经在临床评估中，并且这些和新开发的治疗剂可能在铁代谢相关疾病的临床管理中具有实质性优势，目前尚无有效的治疗方法。