A snapshot into the transcriptomic landscape of apoptosis and ferroptosis in cancer

Apoptosis and ferroptosis are two regulated cell death (RCD) pathways implicated in different human diseases and considered as promising strategies to eliminate cancer cells. These two pathways are characterized by distinct morphological and biochemical properties, induce cell death through different mechanisms, but share common regulators in different cancer types. Although apoptosis and ferroptosis have been extensively studied over the last few years, their transcriptomic responses have not yet been systematically compared due to remarkable variability in the transcriptomic data. Here we provide a brief snapshot of the transcriptomic landscapes of the apoptosis and ferroptosis responses in cancer, discuss their divergent and convergent properties, and implications to cancer therapy.