Progress on association between autophagy and cancer.
- Author:
Jian-ping CAO
1
;
Da-jing XIA
1
Author Information
1. Zhejiang University School of Public Health, Hangzhou 310058, China.
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH:
Autophagy;
Cell Transformation, Neoplastic;
Humans;
Neoplasms
- From:
Journal of Zhejiang University. Medical sciences
2015;44(2):204-210
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Autophagy is an evolutionarily well conserved cellular catabolic process.Cellular proteins and organelles are engulfed to autophagosomes and eventually delivered to lysosomes for degradation. Autophagy is closely associated with a variety of human diseases especially cancer. At present, it has been widely accepted that autophagy is a "double-edged sword" in cancer: it blocks tumorigenesis at the early stage, while it facilitates tumor development at the promotion and progression stage. Moreover, autophagy can be induced by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which is generally play a pro-survival function. Thus, autophagy is an important target for cancer therapy, and suppression of autophagy to enhance the efficacy of cancer therapeutic agents is a novel strategy in cancer therapy under active clinical trials.
