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Updated: May 10, 2026

Exploring the Regulation of Lipid Droplet Catabolism through Lipophagy
Published on: January 31, 2025
Autophagy: cancer's friend or foe?
Sujit K Bhutia1, Subhadip Mukhopadhyay, Niharika Sinha
1Department of Life Science, National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Rourkela, Odisha, India. sujitb@nitrkl.ac.in
Abstract:
The functional relevance of autophagy in tumor formation and progression remains controversial. Autophagy can promote tumor suppression during cancer initiation and protect tumors during progression. Autophagy-associated cell death may act as a tumor suppressor, with several autophagy-related genes deleted in cancers. Loss of autophagy induces genomic instability and necrosis with inflammation in mouse tumor models. Conversely, autophagy enhances survival of tumor cells subjected to metabolic stress and may promote metastasis by enhancing tumor cell survival under environmental stress. Unraveling the complex molecular regulation and multiple diverse roles of autophagy is pivotal in guiding development of rational and novel cancer therapies.
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