A matter of life or death (or both): Understanding autophagy in cancer

Autophagy is a highly conserved pathway that can be used for survival during nutrient and growth factor deprivation. Under certain circumstances, it seems that autophagy may serve as a pathway to cell death. Already, it is becoming increasingly clear that autophagy is involved in cancer formation, survival, and response to several forms of cancer treatments. A detailed understanding of how this pathway is regulated is now emerging and will allow translation of this information into new approaches to cancer treatment. © 2006 American Association for Cancer Research.