Ferroptosis is a new type of programmed cell death, which is expected to become an important strategy of cancer treatment. Traditional strategies for inducing iron death are small molecule inducers based on biological agents. However, because of their poor water solubility, low cell targeting ability and fast metabolism in vivo, it is difficult for molecular drugs to play the long-acting role of ferroptosis induction. With the further study of ferroptosis and development of nanotechnology, nanomaterials have been proved to be more efficient drugs for inducing ferroptosis than those biological drugs. Therein, iron-based nanomaterials can directly release high concentrations of irons and increase reactive oxygen species levels in cells, which produce a better induction effect for ferroptosis. Whereas, it is challenging to differentiate nanoparticle-induced ferroptosis and traditional inducing strategies, elucidate the detailed mechanisms and further classify the synthetical methods of nanomaterials. For better guidance on the development of anticancer strategies, comprehensive summary of the latest developments of ferroptosis related nanomaterials, especially iron-based nanomaterials are in urgent need. In the paper, we summarized the main mechanisms of ferroptosis, highlighted the latest developments of nanomaterials for ferroptosis, and emphasized the advantages of iron-based nanomaterials for ferroptosis. The future prospect in this field was also discussed, paving the way for the related nanomaterials in the clinical cancer therapy.

铁死亡是一种新型的程序性细胞死亡，有望成为癌症治疗的重要策略。诱导铁死亡的传统策略是基于生物制剂的小分子诱导剂。然而，由于它们的水溶性差、细胞靶向能力低、体内代谢快，分子药物难以发挥诱导铁死亡的长效作用。随着对铁死亡的深入研究和纳米技术的发展，纳米材料已被证明是比生物药物更有效的诱导铁死亡的药物。其中，铁基纳米材料可以直接释放高浓度的铁，提高细胞内活性氧的含量，对铁死亡产生更好的诱导作用。然而，区分纳米颗粒诱导的铁死亡和传统的诱导策略，阐明详细的机制并进一步分类纳米材料的合成方法具有挑战性。为了更好地指导抗癌策略的制定，全面总结铁死亡相关纳米材料的最新进展，特别是铁基纳米材料急需。在本文中，我们总结了铁死亡的主要机制，重点介绍了铁死亡纳米材料的最新进展，并强调了铁基纳米材料在铁死亡中的优势。还讨论了该领域的未来前景，为相关纳米材料在临床癌症治疗中的应用铺平了道路。