Unlocking the dual role of autophagy: A new strategy for treating lung cancer.

ABSTRACT: Lung cancer exhibits the highest incidence and mortality rates among cancers globally, with a five-year overall survival rate alarmingly below 20%. Targeting autophagy, though a controversial therapeutic strategy, is extensively employed in clinical practice. Current research is actively pursuing various therapeutic strategies using small molecules to exploit the dual function of autophagy. Nevertheless, the pivotal question of enhancing or inhibiting autophagy in cancer therapy merits further attention. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the mechanisms of autophagy in lung cancer. It also explores recent advances in targeting cytotoxic autophagy and inhibiting protective autophagy with small molecules to induce cell death in lung cancer cells. Notably, most autophagy-

SUBMITTER: Tang F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11919427 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature