It was recently recognized that
cancer therapeutic efficacy may be greatly compromised by an intrinsic protective mechanism called autophagy, by which
cancer cells survive in harsh conditions such as
starvation. Here, a synergetic strategy is described for
cancer treatment by suppressing such a protective mechanism for augmenting
tumor-
starvation therapy. The synergetic
therapy is achieved by restraining
glucose metabolism using an antiglycolytic agent to predispose
cancer cells to severe energy deprivation; concurrently the downstream autophagic flux and compensatory energy supplies are blocked by the autophagy inhibitor
black phosphorus nanosheet.
Cancer cells fail to extract their own nutrient to feed themselves, finally succumbing to therapeutic interventions and starving to death. Both in vitro and in vivo results evidence the cooperative effect between the autophagy inhibitor and antiglycolytic agent, which leads to remarkable synergetic
antineoplastic outcome. It is expected that such a combinational approach by concurrently blocking exogenous and endogenous nutrition supplies will be beneficial to the design of effective
tumor-specific
cancer therapies in the future.