REVIEW article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Cell Death and Survival
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1611055
This article is part of the Research TopicCell Death: A New Frontier in Cancer ResearchView all articles
Comprehensive Landscape of Cell Death Mechanisms: From Molecular Cross-Talk to Therapeutic Innovation in Oncology
Provisionally accepted
- 1Inner Mongolia Medical College, Hohhot, China
- 2First hospital Hohht, Hohhot, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Cell death, or programmed cellular termination, represents a fundamental biological phenomenon crucial for maintaining organismal homeostasis. Traditionally conceptualized as a passive terminal state associated with inflammatory responses and elimination of compromised cells, contemporary research has unveiled cell death as a sophisticated regulatory network encompassing diverse modalities, including apoptosis, necrosis, autophagic cell death, and lysosomal cell death, which are classified as programmed cell death, and pyroptosis, necroptosis, and NETosis, which are classified as inflammatory cell death, have been described over the years. Recently, several novel forms of cell death, namely, mitoptosis, paraptosis, immunogenic cell death,entosis, methuosis, parthanatos, ferroptosis, autosis, alkaliptosis, oxeiptosis, cuproptosis, erebosis and disulfidptosis, have been discovered and advanced our understanding of cell death and its complexity. This synthesis examines the historical progression and defining characteristics of cellular termination pathways, with particular emphasis on their molecular regulation and pathophysiological significance.The mechanistic diversity of these processes not only reveals intricate cellular quality control systems but also provides therapeutic opportunities for neoplastic diseases. For instance, investigations into oncogenic regulators like B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) family proteins have illuminated the critical relationship between apoptotic resistance and malignant progression, catalyzing development of pro-apoptotic agents such as BH3 mimetics. Strategic integration of these targeted therapies with conventional cytotoxic regimens and immunomodulatory approaches represents a promising frontier in precision oncology, potentially enhancing therapeutic efficacy while mitigating adverse effects in cancer management.
Keywords: Cell Death, PCD, Cancer, Mechanism, therapy
Received: 13 Apr 2025; Accepted: 02 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Qi, Hu, Li, Liu and Mu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Ke Qi, Inner Mongolia Medical College, Hohhot, China
Yongping Mu, First hospital Hohht, Hohhot, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.