Copyright
©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Nov 24, 2025; 16(11): 112313
Published online Nov 24, 2025. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i11.112313
Published online Nov 24, 2025. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i11.112313
Attack cancer: Through autophagic modulations as suppressor or promoter
Pratishtha Gupta, Shama Parveen, Saurabh Kumar, Ana Ahtsham, Monisha Banerjee, Department of Zoology, Molecular and Human Genetics Laboratory, University of Lucknow, Lucknow 226007, Uttar Pradesh, India
Co-first authors: Pratishtha Gupta and Shama Parveen.
Co-corresponding authors: Saurabh Kumar and Monisha Banerjee.
Author contributions: Gupta P contributed to designed research, literature search, wrote the paper and figure preparation; Parveen S contributed to literature search, manuscript writing and editing; Kumar S contributed to manuscript writing & editing; Ahtsham A contributed to manuscript writing and figure preparation; Banerjee M contributed to manuscript editing and supervision. all authors have read and approved the final manuscript. It is reasonable to have two co-corresponding authors for this review article because the work covers a wide range of topics and fields. The review brings together different areas of knowledge. One author is in charge of critically putting together experimental and clinical evidence, while the other is in charge of framing the ideas, organizing the material, and making sure that all of the most recent breakthroughs are covered. By sharing the responsibility, both authors can quickly answer questions from readers, reviewers, and editors, depending on the subject or technical background of the question. This shared accountability recognizes their equal intellectual contributions, guarantees accuracy across disciplines, and underscores the collaborative essence of the review process.
Supported by DBT-BUILDER-University of Lucknow Interdisciplinary Life Science Programme for Advance Research and Education (Level II), No. TG BT/INF/22/SP47623/2022.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Saurabh Kumar, PhD, Department of Zoology, Molecular and Human Genetics Laboratory, University of Lucknow, University Road, Babuganj, Lucknow 226007, Uttar Pradesh, India. saurabhdhuriya110@gmail.com
Received: July 25, 2025
Revised: August 14, 2025
Accepted: October 28, 2025
Published online: November 24, 2025
Processing time: 121 Days and 12.1 Hours
Revised: August 14, 2025
Accepted: October 28, 2025
Published online: November 24, 2025
Processing time: 121 Days and 12.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Autophagy plays a crucial role in the breakdown and recycling of cellular components. However, its role in cancer biology is complex and multifaceted. It can inhibit or help tumor growth depending on cancer type, stage, and situation. Autophagy helps cancer cells withstand environmental stress, such as lack of oxygen, nutrients, or chemotherapy. Recent studies have shown that autophagy signaling pathways are complicated and can be changed to treat it. Stopping autophagy may improve the sensitivity of cancer cells to chemotherapy. Increasing autophagy can kill cancer cells, especially apoptosis-resistant ones. Thus, autophagy targeting is a promising but difficult cancer treatment.