Macroautophagy as a Target of Cancer Therapy

Title: Macroautophagy as a Target of Cancer Therapy

Volume: 3 Issue: 3

Author(s): Severine Lorin, Patrice Codogno and Mojgan Djavaheri-Mergny

Affiliation:

Keywords: Autophagy, tumor, cancer therapy, apoptosis, cell death, cell survival

Abstract: Macroautophagy (hereafter referred as to autophagy) is a vacuolar lysosomal degradative pathway for cytoplasmic macromolecules and organelles. There is growing evidence that autophagy is controlled by tumor-regulating molecules, and that it is downregulated during the early stages of tumorigenesis. Nevertheless, the relationship between autophagy and tumor progression seems to be complex, since in response to various stress situations, cancer cells are able to trigger autophagy either as a survival mechanism or conversely as a mechanism leading to cell death. Therefore, depending on the context, autophagy may trigger opposite outcomes in cancer cell fate. These two aspects of autophagy should be further taken into account in view of its possible modulation for cancer treatment.

Cite this article as:

Severine Lorin , Patrice Codogno and Mojgan Djavaheri-Mergny , Macroautophagy as a Target of Cancer Therapy, Current Cancer Therapy Reviews 2007; 3 (3) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/157339407781368369