Tumor-suppressing effects of autophagy on hepatocellular carcinoma

Evasion of apoptosis is one of the hallmarks of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that results in treatment resistance. Recently, autophagy was reported to induce cell death in HCC, highlighting the tumor-suppressing effects of autophagy on HCC. This review summarizes our current understanding of the HCC-suppressing effects of macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as autophagy) to provide insights into the molecular mechanisms that may be essential for the development of autophagy-targeting therapeutic strategies for HCC.