Journal of Oncology: Role of autophagy in cancer development and therapy

Official URL: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jo/si/762523/cfp/

Autophagy has become one of the most attractive topics in cancer due to its dual role as a tumor suppressor and cell survival mechanism that can promote the growth of established tumors. Autophagy (macroautophagy) is an evolutionary protected lysosomal pathway for degrading cytoplasmic proteins, macromolecules, and organelles. Reduction in autophagic capacity or defective autophagy provides an oncogenic stimulus, causing malignant transformation and spontaneous tumors. In addition, autophagy seems to function as a protective cell-survival mechanism against environmental and cellular stress (e.g., nutrient deprivation, hypoxia, and therapeutic stress). Removing damaged organelles under stress conditions improves the survival of cells and causes resistance to antineoplastic therapies, thus leading to hypothesis that the inhibition of autophagy in cancer cells may be therapeutically beneficial in some circumstances, including DNA-damaging agents, antihormone therapies (e.g., tamoxifen), and radiation therapy. Understanding the molecular mechanism regulating autophagy will provide the impetus for translational studies that may ultimately lead to new therapeutic strategies in cancer. The main focus of this special issue will be on the new, and existing, information on the promising agents that inhibit autophagy or induce autophagic cell death, alone or in combination with current standard therapies or experimental therapeutics. This special issue will also explore novel molecular mechanism regulating autophagy and provide the cellular mechanisms for differentiation and cell survival mechanisms in various cancers. Potential topics include, but are not limited to: Pro- and antiautophagic signaling pathways in normal and cancer cells Starvation and growth factor deprivation-induced signaling in induction of autophagy Hypoxia, metabolic stress, and ROS in induction of autophagy Identification of markers to monitor autophagy in tumors in vivo models and patient samples Polyphenolic compounds, antioxidants, and small molecules as autophagy/autophagic cell death inducers Molecularly targeted therapies interfering in autophagy as a potential novel therapeutic strategy in vitro and in vivo cancer models Clinical studies examining autophagy in patient tumors and its relation with prognosis, survival, and response to therapies