title: The hypothesis of an effective strategy for resistance of hepatocellular carcinoma to therapy-autophagy.
abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumours and its five-year survival rate remains low. Autophagy is a catabolic process conserved among all eukaryotes ranging from yeast to mammals. Recently, many studies show that tumour cells can utilize autophagy as a cellular defence mechanism when facing metabolic stress. Thus, we hypothesize that autophagy may play an important role in the resistance of hepatocellular carcinomas to therapy. Although the exact role of autophagy on tumour cells is still complex and further studies are needed to prove the impact of autophagy on HCC, it suggests that autophagy may be a new therapeutic target for the resistance to therapy of HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Radiology, St Luke's Hospital, Shanghai 200050, PR China.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001343:Autophagy / Q000187:drug effects*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents