Autophagy and radiosensitization in cancer

Authors

  • Khushboo Sharma Virginia Commonwealth University, Departments of Pharmacology and Toxicology
  • Rachel Goehe Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Bethesda, MD, 20892
  • Jason M. Beckta Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Radiation Oncology
  • Kristoffer Valerie Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Radiation Oncology; Massey Cancer Center
  • David A. Gewirtz Virginia Commonwealth University, Departments of Pharmacology and Toxicology; Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Medicine; Massey Cancer Center

Keywords:

autophagy, ATM, DNA damage response, lung cancer, glioblastomas, breast cancer, radiosensitization

Abstract

Autophagy is a natural self-degradative process by which cells eliminate misfolded proteins and damaged organelles. Autophagy has been shown to have multiple functions in tumor cells that may be dependent on the tumor type and the treatment conditions. Autophagy can have a cytoprotective role and be thought of as a survival mechanism or be cytotoxic in nature and mediate cell death. Radiation, one of the primary treatments for many different types of cancer, almost uniformly promotes autophagy in tumor cells. While autophagy produced in response to radiation is often considered to be cytoprotective, radiation-induced autophagy has also been shown to mediate susceptibility to radiation. This review addresses the complexity of autophagy in response to radiation treatment in three different cancer models, specifically lung cancer, breast cancer and glioblastoma. A deeper understanding of the different roles played by autophagy in response to radiation should facilitate the development of approaches for enhancing the therapeutic utility of radiation by providing strategies for combination treatment with unique radiosensitizers as well as preventing the initiation of strategies which are likely to attenuate the effectiveness of radiation therapy.

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Published

2014-02-25

How to Cite

Sharma, K., Goehe, R., Beckta, J. M., Valerie, K., & Gewirtz, D. A. (2014). Autophagy and radiosensitization in cancer. EXCLI Journal, 13, 178–191. Retrieved from https://www.excli.de/index.php/excli/article/view/692

Issue

Vol. 13 (2014)

Section

Review articles

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