Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
Autophagy. 2009 Nov;5(8):1232-4. doi: 10.4161/auto.5.8.9896. Epub 2009 Nov 24.
The relationships between autophagy and apoptosis have been examined quite extensively and have often been shown to be reciprocally regulated responses to stresses such as exposure of tumor cells to chemotherapeutic drugs and radiation. However, there is now evidence that autophagy may also play a role in tumor dormancy. Given that tumor dormancy and disease recurrence are poorly understood phenomena which are nevertheless critical elements of patient morbidity and mortality, this commentary develops the postulate that autophagy and senescence may be coupled responses that influence the capacity of the tumor cell to maintain a prolonged state of growth arrest that can be succeeded by tumor regrowth and disease recurrence.
自噬和细胞凋亡之间的关系已经被广泛研究，并且经常被证明是对诸如肿瘤细胞暴露于化疗药物和辐射等应激的相互调节的反应。然而，现在有证据表明自噬也可能在肿瘤休眠中发挥作用。鉴于肿瘤休眠和疾病复发是理解甚少的现象，但却是患者发病率和死亡率的关键因素，本评论提出了这样的假设，即自噬和衰老可能是相互关联的反应，影响肿瘤细胞维持长期生长停滞的能力，随后是肿瘤再生和疾病复发。
