Autophagy in prostate cancer and androgen suppression therapy.

Elio Ziparo (1) , Simonetta Petrungaro (1) , Elettra Sara Marini (1) , Donatella Starace (1) , Silvia Conti (1) , Antonio Facchiano (2) , Antonio Filippini (1) , Claudia Giampietri (1)

1 DAHFMO - Department of Anatomy, Histology, Forensic Medicine and Orthopedic [Roma]
2 IDI-IRCCS - Laboratory of Vascular Pathology

The role of autophagy is known to be highly complex and context-dependent, leading to both cancer suppression and progression in several tumors including melanoma, breast and prostate cancer. In the present review, recent advances in an understanding of the involvement of autophagy in prostate cancer treatment are described. The regulatory effects of androgens on prostate cancer cell autophagy are particularly discussed in order to highlight the effects of autophagy modulation during androgen deprivation. A critical evaluation of the studies examined in the present review suggests the attractive possibility of autophagy inhibition combined with hormonal therapy as a promising approach for prostate cancer treatment.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Cancer

Elio Ziparo, Simonetta Petrungaro, Elettra Sara Marini, Donatella Starace, Silvia Conti, et al.. Autophagy in prostate cancer and androgen suppression therapy.. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2013, 14 (6), pp.12090-106. ⟨10.3390/ijms140612090⟩. ⟨pasteur-01026321⟩