Figure 3.

Dual role of autophagy in tumorigenesis. Legend: autophagy has a dual role in tumorigenesis. It controls cell growth, mitochondrial health, prevents DNA damage, mediates physiological cell death, induces cell death induced by external factors such as anticancer therapy, inhibits neovascularization and enhances immune system function and antitumor immunity; in contrast, autophagy is also responsible for the increased survival of cancer cells in environments with low levels of oxygen and nutrients, induces resistance to anticancer therapy and protects cells from apoptosis.