Nyfeler, Beat and Eng, Christina H. (2016) Revisiting autophagy addiction of tumor cells. Autophagy Journal. ISSN 1554-8635

Abstract

Inhibition of autophagy has been widely explored as a potential therapeutic intervention for cancer. Different factors such as tumor origin, tumor stage and genetic background have been reported to define a tumor’s response to autophagy modulation. Notably, tumors with oncogenic mutations in KRAS were reported to depend on macroautophagy in order to cope with oncogene-induced metabolic stress. Our recent report details the unexpected finding that autophagy is dispensable for KRAS-driven tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, we clarify that the anti-tumorigenic effects of chloroquine, a frequently used non-specific inhibitor of autophagy, are not connected to the inhibition of macroautophagy. Our data suggest that caution should be exercised when using chloroquine and its analogs to decipher the roles of autophagy in cancer.

Item Type:	Article
Date Deposited:	27 Apr 2016 23:45
Last Modified:	27 Apr 2016 23:45
URI:	https://oak.novartis.com/id/eprint/28641