Koustas Evangelos, Trifylli Eleni-Myrto, Sarantis Panagiotis, Kontolatis Nikolaos I, Damaskos Christos, Garmpis Nikolaos, Vallilas Christos, Garmpi Anna, Papavassiliou Athanasios G, Karamouzis Michalis V
Molecular Oncology Unit, Department of Biological Chemistry, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece.
Renal Transplantation Unit, 'Laiko' General Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece.
Life (Basel). 2021 Nov 27;11(12):1304. doi: 10.3390/life11121304.
Gastric cancer is the fifth most common malignancy and the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The three entirely variable entities have distinct epidemiology, molecular characteristics, prognosis, and strategies for clinical management. However, many gastric tumors appear to be resistant to current chemotherapeutic agents. Moreover, a significant number of gastric cancer patients, with a lack of optimal treatment strategies, have reduced survival. In recent years, multiple research data have highlighted the importance of autophagy, an essential catabolic process of cytoplasmic component digestion, in cancer. The role of autophagy as a tumor suppressor or tumor promoter mechanism remains controversial. The multistep nature of the autophagy process offers a wide array of targetable points for designing novel chemotherapeutic strategies. The purpose of this review is to summarize the current knowledge regarding the interplay between gastric cancer development and the autophagy process and decipher the role of autophagy in this kind of cancer. A plethora of different agents that direct or indirect target autophagy may be a novel therapeutic approach for gastric cancer patients.
胃癌是全球第五大常见恶性肿瘤，也是癌症相关死亡的第三大主要原因。这三种完全不同的实体在流行病学、分子特征、预后及临床管理策略方面存在差异。然而，许多胃肿瘤似乎对当前的化疗药物具有抗性。此外，相当数量的胃癌患者由于缺乏最佳治疗策略，生存期缩短。近年来，多项研究数据凸显了自噬（一种细胞质成分消化的重要分解代谢过程）在癌症中的重要性。自噬作为肿瘤抑制或肿瘤促进机制的作用仍存在争议。自噬过程的多步骤性质为设计新型化疗策略提供了众多可靶向的关键点。本综述的目的是总结目前关于胃癌发展与自噬过程之间相互作用的知识，并阐明自噬在这类癌症中的作用。大量直接或间接靶向自噬的不同药物可能是胃癌患者的一种新型治疗方法。
