Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 5, 2026

An Organotypic High Throughput System for Characterization of Drug Sensitivity of Primary Multiple Myeloma Cells
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Autophagy: A New Mechanism of Prosurvival and Drug Resistance in Multiple Myeloma

V Desantis1, I Saltarella1, A Lamanuzzi1

  • 1Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, Unit of Internal Medicine and Clinical Oncology, University of Bari Aldo Moro Medical School, Bari, Italy.

Translational Oncology
|September 10, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Autophagy is a cell survival process crucial for drug resistance in multiple myeloma. Inhibiting autophagy may enhance conventional drug effectiveness against resistant cancer cells.

Area of Science:

  • Cellular Biology
  • Cancer Research
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Autophagy is a fundamental cellular process for maintaining homeostasis and energy balance.
  • It involves the degradation of cytoplasmic components via autophagolysosomes.
  • Autophagy can act as a cell-death mechanism or a survival pathway.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of autophagy as a pro-survival mechanism in multiple myeloma (MM).
  • To evaluate the potential of autophagy inhibition as a therapeutic strategy for drug-resistant MM.

Main Methods:

  • Examination of autophagy's role in drug resistance in multiple myeloma models.
  • Assessment of the combined effects of autophagy inhibitors and conventional anti-MM drugs.

Main Results:

  • Autophagy was identified as a key pro-survival mechanism enabling drug resistance in multiple myeloma.
  • Combining autophagy inhibitors with standard anti-MM therapies showed enhanced efficacy.

Conclusions:

  • Autophagy inhibition represents a promising therapeutic strategy to overcome drug resistance in multiple myeloma.
  • Targeting autophagy could sensitize resistant multiple myeloma plasma cells to conventional treatments.

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