Relationship Between Autophagy and Drug Resistance in Tumors

Abstract

Multidrug Resistance (MDR) in tumor cells, a phenomenon in which tumor cells become resistant to chemotherapeutic drugs with different chemical structures and mechanisms of action, is a major obstacle to tumor therapy and is an urgent problem to be addressed. Autophagy, widely found in eukaryotic cells, is a lysosome-dependent pathway of self-degradation. In different environments, autophagy can play different roles in the self-protection of cells. At different stages of tumorigenesis, autophagy can play two distinct roles: inhibition of cancer and promotion of cancer. The relationship between autophagy and drug resistance in tumor cells is complex. Moreover, autophagy can play a role in promoting drug resistance and drug sensitivity through different molecular pathways. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between autophagy and drug resistance in tumor cells from the perspective of molecular mechanisms.

Keywords: MDR; autophagy; chemotherapy; drug sensitivity; self-protection; tumorigenesis.