Autophagy in blood cancers: biological role and therapeutic implications
Alessio Nencioni,
Michele Cea,
Fabrizio Montecucco,
Valter D. Longo,
Franco Patrone,
Angelo M. Carella,
Tessa L. Holyoake,
G. Vignir Helgason
Affiliations
Alessio Nencioni
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
Michele Cea
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy;LeBow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics and Jerome Lipper Center for Multiple Myeloma Research, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Fabrizio Montecucco
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy;Division of Cardiology, Foundation for Medical Researches, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Geneva University Hospital, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
Valter D. Longo
Longevity Institute and Department of Biological Sciences, School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Franco Patrone
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
Angelo M. Carella
Division of Hematology 1, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria San Martino, Genoa, Italy
Tessa L. Holyoake
Paul O’Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
G. Vignir Helgason
Paul O’Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Autophagy is a cell recycling process the molecular apparatus of which has been identified over the past decade. Autophagy allows cells to survive starvation and inhospitable conditions and plays a key role in numerous physiological functions, including hematopoiesis and immune responses. In hematologic malignancies, autophagy can either act as a chemo-resistance mechanism or have tumor suppressive functions, depending on the context. In addition, autophagy is involved in other important aspects of blood cancers as it promotes immune competence and anti-cancer immunity, and may even help enhance patient tolerance to standard treatments. Approaches exploiting autophagy, either to activate or inhibit it, could find broad application in hematologic malignancies and contribute to improved clinical outcomes. These aspects are discussed here together with a brief introduction to the molecular machinery of autophagy and to its role in blood cell physiology.
