Figure 2.
Multifaceted role of autophagy in cancer progression. (A) Autophagy conducts homeostatic functions in normal tissue, such as monitoring the functionality of organelles and proteins. (B) When autophagy is inhibited in tissues, normal homeostasis is disrupted, which increases inflammation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and DNA damage (genomic instability and aneuploidy). Taken together, these modifications may encourage the development of tumors and trigger early tumorigenesis.16 (C) Autophagy accelerates oncogene-induced senescence, which inhibits malignant transformation. (D) After several stimuli, such as chemotherapy, metabolic stress, and anoikis, autophagy induction increases tumor cell survival, which may encourage drug resistance and metastasis.27 ROS: reactive oxygen species.