Table 1.

The dual role of autophagy in cancer^a).

Onco-stimulatory roles	Onco-suppressive roles
Support of cancer stem cells	Clearance of intracellular pathogens
Providing cells with an alternative energy source	Favoring the genomic stability
Inhibition of cell death	Reduction of DNA damage and reactive oxygen species
Reduction of cellular sensitivity to stress stimuli	Reduction of inflammation
Maintaining the dormancy state of tumor cells until favorable conditions are met	Stimulation of autophagic cell death
Promotion of drug resistance	Removal of damaged organelles and proteins

^a)modified from (Burada et al., 2015; Bednarczyk et al., 2018).