title: Autophagy as a pathogenic mechanism and drug target in lymphoproliferative disorders.
abstract: Autophagy represents a key mechanism of cytoprotection that can be activated by a variety of extracellular and intracellular stresses and allows the cell to sequester cytoplasmic components and damaged organelles, delivering them to lysosomes for degradation and recycling. However, the autophagy process has also been associated with the death of the cell. It has been demonstrated to be constitutive in some instances and inducible in others, and the idea that it could represent a pathogenetic determinant as well as a possible prognostic tool and a therapeutic target in a plethora of human diseases has recently been considered. Among these, cancer represents a major one. In this review, we recapitulate the critical implications of autophagy in the pathogenesis, progression, and treatment of lymphoproliferative disorders. Leukemias and lymphomas, in fact, represent paradigmatic human diseases in which advances have recently been made in this respect.
authors.affiliation: 2Department of Therapeutic Research and Medicine Evaluation, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy. malorni@iss.it.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pierdominici
authors.forename: Cristiana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barbati
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vomero
authors.forename: Silvia L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Locatelli
authors.forename: Carmelo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carlo-Stella
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ortona
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Malorni
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001343:Autophagy / Q000502:physiology*; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000503:physiopathology; D008232:Lymphoproliferative Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: Hodgkin's lymphoma; cancer; cell fate; lymphocytes; non-Hodgkin's lymphoma