The role of autophagy in pharmacological actions of anticancer drugs / 中国药理学通报

ABSTRACT

Autophagy is an adaptive response of cells to physiological and pathological conditions.The down-regulation of autophagic activity in some types of tumor cells is believed to play a critical role of tumorogenesis.Many anticancer drugs can activate autophagy in cancer cells and participate in the molecular regulation of autophagy.These drugs also induce apoptosis of cancer cells.The actual role of autophagy in antitumor effects of these drugs,however,depends on concentrations of drugs and the types of tumor cells.The induction of autophagy by anticancer drugs produces dual effects on viability of tumos cells. Autophagy as a therapeutic target of tumor chemotherapy has a promising application in the future.