Autophagy and Cancer

With the explosion of information on autophagy in cancer, this is an opportune time to speed the efforts to translate our current knowledge about autophagy regulation into better understanding of its role in cancer. This book will cover the latest advances in this area from the basics, such as the molecular machinery for autophagy induction and regulation, up to the current areas of interest such as modulation of autophagy and drug discovery for cancer prevention and treatment. The text will include an explanation on how autophagy can function in both oncogenesis and tumor suppression and a description of its function in tumor development and tumor suppression through its roles in cell survival, cell death, cell growth as well as its influences on inflammation, immunity, DNA damage, oxidative stress, tumor microenvironment, etc. The remaining chapters will cover topics on autophagy and cancer therapy. These pages will serve as a description on how the pro-survival function of autophagy may help cancer cells resist chemotherapy and radiation treatment as well as how the pro-death functions of autophagy may enhance cell death in response to cancer therapy, and how to target autophagy for cancer prevention and therapy - what to target and how to target it.

Preface.- Historical Overview of Autophagy.- The Core Molecular Machinery of Autophagosome Formation.- The origin of autophagosomes: The beginning of an end.- Signal Transduction Regulation of Autophagy.- Role of Autophagy in Tumorigenesis.- Selective autophagy and cancer.- Oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes in autophagy.- Autophagy and Immunity.- Autophagy and the Tumor Microenvironment.- Autophagy and Cancer Therapy.- The Crosstalk between Apoptosis & Autophagy.- Autophagy and Cancer Drug Discovery.- Index.

Dr. Hong-Gang Wang is the Lois High Berstler Professor, Department of Pharmacology at Penn State College of Medicine. Dr. Wang is a leading research scientist in the area of autophagy and cancer.