title: Autophagy in cancer and chemotherapy.
abstract: Cancer cells often exhibit mutations in critical molecules of the apoptotic machinery, resulting in resistance to common anticancer therapies. In the absence of apoptosis, autophagic cell death can be an alternative form of cell death by excessive self-digestion. Therefore, autophagic cell death can be considered as a backup cell death mechanism when apoptotic cell death mechanisms fail. However, many tumors also exhibit deficiencies in autophagy that may result in both genomic instability and further anticancer drug resistance. This chapter summarizes our current understanding regarding the regulation of autophagy in tumors and discusses potential new anticancer drug treatment strategies.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacology, University of Bern, Friedb0ihlstrasse 49, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Shida
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yousefi
authors.forename: Hans-Uwe
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Simon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001343:Autophagy / Q000187:drug effects*; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / Q000187:drug effects*; D042822:Genomic Instability / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents