最近的研究已经确定铜与癌症生物学之间存在强烈联系，因为铜对于癌细胞的生长和转移是必要的。除了铜作为金属酶的催化辅因子的传统概念外，新兴证据表明铜是调节信号转导和基因表达的调节因子，这对于肿瘤发生和癌症进展至关重要。有趣的是，铜具有强氧化还原活性的特性，因此对癌细胞既有益处又有害处。铜依赖型细胞生长和增殖称为铜病，而铜依赖性细胞死亡称为铜病死亡。这两种机制都存在于癌细胞中，因此表明铜缺乏和铜补充可能是开发新型抗癌治疗的可行方法。在本综述中，我们总结了铜在癌症增殖、血管生成、转移、自噬、免疫抑制微环境发展和铜介导的癌细胞死亡中的生物学作用和相关分子机制的当前理解。我们还突出了用于癌症治疗的基于铜的策略。还讨论了铜在癌症生物学和治疗中的当前挑战及其潜在解决方案。进一步研究该领域将提供更全面的分子解释铜与癌症之间因果关系的解释。它将揭示一系列调节铜依赖性信号通路的关键调节因子，从而为开发与铜相关的抗癌药物提供潜在靶点。版权所有 © 2023 Elsevier B.V. 发表。

Recent studies have established a strong link between copper and cancer biology, as copper is necessary for cancer growth and metastasis. Beyond the conventional concept of copper serving as a catalytic cofactor of metalloenzymes, emerging evidence demonstrates copper as a regulator for signaling transduction and gene expression, which are vital for tumorigenesis and cancer progression. Interestingly, strong redox-active properties make copper both beneficial and detrimental to cancer cells. Cuproplasia is copper-dependent cell growth and proliferation, whereas cuproptosis is copper-dependent cell death. Both mechanisms act in cancer cells, suggesting that copper depletion and copper supplementation may be viable approaches for developing novel anticancer therapies. In this review, we summarized the current understanding of copper's biological role and related molecular mechanisms in cancer proliferation, angiogenesis, metastasis, autophagy, immunosuppressive microenvironment development, and copper-mediated cancer cell death. We also highlighted copper-based strategies for cancer treatment. The current challenges of copper in cancer biology and therapy and their potential solutions were also discussed. Further investigation in this field will yield a more comprehensive molecular explanation for the causal relationship between copper and cancers. It will reveal a series of key regulators governing copper-dependent signaling pathways, thereby providing potential targets for developing copper-related anticancer drugs.Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.