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Autophagy and its potent modulators from phytochemicals in cancer treatment

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Abstract

Autophagy is a ubiquitous catabolic process by which damaged or harmful intracellular components are delivered to the lysosomes for self-digestion and recycling. It is critical in cancer treatment. Therapy-induced autophagy predominantly acts as a pro-survival mechanism, but progressive autophagy can lead to non-apoptotic cell death, also known as autophagic cell death. Plants or herbs contain various natural compounds that are widely used in the treatment of many types of malignancies. Emerging evidence indicates that phytochemicals targeting the autophagic pathway are promising agents for cancer treatment. However, these compounds play different roles in autophagy. In this review, we discussed the role of autophagy in cancer development and therapy, and focussed on elucidating the anti-cancer activities of autophagic modulators, especially phytochemicals. Notably, we described a novel premise that the dynamic role of phytochemicals should be evaluated in regulation of autophagy in cancer.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 81403142), and the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province (Grant no. 2016A020226048).

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  1. Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, The Second Clinical College, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510120, China

    Chao-Yue Sun, Guang-Juan Zheng & Bing Feng

  2. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, no 232, Waihuandong Road, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Qian-Yu Zhang

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  1. Chao-Yue Sun
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Sun, CY., Zhang, QY., Zheng, GJ. et al. Autophagy and its potent modulators from phytochemicals in cancer treatment. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 83, 17–26 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00280-018-3707-4

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