Autophagy in tumorigenesis and cancer therapy: Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?

Abstract

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism for intracellular substance degradation, responsible for the recycling of metabolic substances and the maintenance of intracellular stability. It has early been demonstrated to play a significant role in tumorigenesis, but whether it acts as a promoter or a suppressor during tumorigenesis seems to be context-specific. Moreover, autophagy is also implicated in promoting chemoresistance of cancer cells so as to attenuate therapeutic efficacy of chemotherapy. On the contrary, other reports highlight a tumor-killing role of autophagy during cancer treatment. Herein, this review aims to revisit the key features of autophagy, summarize the seemingly contradictory roles of autophagy during both tumorigenesis and cancer chemotherapy, and evaluate the feasibility of altering the level of cellular autophagy as part of cancer adjuvant treatment.

• Authors: Shengtao Zhou, Linjie Zhao, Manchao Kuang, Bingjie Zhang, Zhu Liang, Tao Yi, Yuquan Wei, Xia Zhao
• Journal: Cancer letters (Cancer Lett) Vol. 323 Issue 2 Pg. 115-27 (Oct 28 2012) ISSN: 1872-7980 [Electronic] Ireland
• PMID: 22542808 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Review)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Topics

• Autophagy
• Humans
• Neoplasms (immunology, pathology, therapy)