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Autophagy and tumorigenesis
Author(s) -
Chen Nan,
Debnath Jayanta
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2009.12.034
Subject(s) - autophagy , carcinogenesis , suppressor , context (archaeology) , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , cancer cell , cancer , mechanism (biology) , cancer research , biochemistry , genetics , apoptosis , paleontology , philosophy , epistemology
Autophagy, or cellular self‐digestion, is activated in cancer cells in response to multiple stresses and has been demonstrated to promote tumor cell survival and drug resistance. Nonetheless, genetic evidence supports that autophagy functions as a tumor suppressor mechanism. Hence, the precise role of autophagy during cancer progression and treatment is both tissue and context dependent. Here, we discuss our current understanding of the biological functions of autophagy during cancer development, overview how autophagy is regulated by cancer‐associated signaling pathways, and review how autophagy inhibition is being exploited to improve clinical outcomes.