Neuroblastoma: Autophagy protects from chemotherapy

(Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres) Cells can digest parts of themselves in a process called autophagy. This is a survival strategy that helps them overcome starvation and other conditions of depletion. In therapy-resistant cases of neuroblastoma, scientists from the German Cancer Research Center and Heidelberg University Hospital have now discovered an enzyme which promotes autophagy and thus protects cancer cells from treatment through chemotherapy. Blocking this enzyme might make cancer cells more sensitive to treatment.
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news