Autophagy and tumour metastasis

Abstract

Metastasis is the most important biological potential of malignant tumour cells. A variety of mechanisms is involved in regulating tumour invasion and metastasis and interacts with each other, forming a large regulatory system. Autophagy plays an important role in organisms in maintaining environmental homoeostasis. A large amount of evidence has shown that autophagy is also involved in tumour development processes, including invasion and metastasis. Autophagy not only controls some biological processes in tumour cells but is also affected by the microenvironment. Therefore, the role of autophagy in tumours is far more important and complicated than previously estimated. The role of autophagy in tumour metastasis will be discussed in this chapter.