The regulatory mechanism of autophagy in prostate cancer / 肿瘤

ABSTRACT

Autophagy is a metabolic process whereby intracellular substance is degraded in lysosomes of eukaryotic cells, which plays an important role in cell survival, growth, differentiation and maintenance of cellular homeostasis. The regulatory mechanism by which autophagy contributes to tumorigenesis is complex and also exhibits the effects of a double-blade sword. At the earlier stage of the neoplastic process, autophagy can inhibit the formation of tumor by preventing the accumulation of damaged organelles and accelerating the protein degradation process. However, in the process of tumor development, autophagy can help tumor cells survive under the conditions of hypoxia and nutrient deprivation by degrading and recycling intracellular substances. Prostate cancer is the most common malignant tumor in male genital system. Rrecent studies show that autophagy is closely related to tumorigenesis, and therefore the molecular mechanism of autophagy has been the focus of research. This review focuses on the regulatory mechanism of autophagy in prostate cancer, hoping to provide a theoretical basis of autophagy for the treatment of prostate cancer. Copyright © 2012 by TUMOR.