Autophagy, an Accomplice or Antagonist of Drug Resistance in HCC?

Overview

Journal Cell Death Dis

Specialties Cell Biology
General Medicine

Date 2021 Mar 13

PMID 33712559

Citations 23

Authors

Yafei Wu

Jigang Zhang

Qin Li

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly lethal malignancy characterized by poor prognosis and a low 5-year survival rate. Drug treatment is proving to be effective in anti-HCC. However, only a small number of HCC patients exhibit sensitive responses, and drug resistance occurs frequently in advanced patients. Autophagy, an evolutionary process responsible for the degradation of cellular substances, is closely associated with the acquisition and maintenance of drug resistance for HCC. This review focuses on autophagic proteins and explores the intricate relationship between autophagy and cancer stem cells, tumor-derived exosomes, and noncoding RNA. Clinical trials involved in autophagy inhibition combined with anticancer drugs are also concerned.

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