Autophagy in tumorigenesis and cancer therapy

Autophagy is a crucial physiological process for cellular self-renewing and homeostasis, which plays a dual role in both tumorigenesis and anti-tumor treatment. It plays an antineoplastic role by maintaining genomic stability, as well as a protective role in tumorgenesis and progression. Autophagy improves the effectiveness of anti-tumor therapy, meanwhile, it involves in resistance of tumor cells to chemotherapy and irradiation. Using relevant autophagy regulators in different backgrounds is expected to become a new strategy for improving sensitivity of tumor cells to anti-tumor treatment. Key words: Autophagy; Neoplasms; Drug therapy; Radiotherapy; Targeted therapy