Autophagy is required for mammary tumor recurrence by promoting dormant tumor cell survival following therapy

Our findings demonstrate a pro-tumorigenic role for autophagy in tumor dormancy and recurrence following therapy, reveal that dormant tumor cells are uniquely reliant upon autophagy for their survival, and indicate that targeting dormant residual tumor cells by inhibiting autophagy impairs tumor recurrence. These studies identify a pharmacological target for a cellular state that is resistant to commonly used anti-neoplastic agents and suggest autophagy inhibition as an approach to reduce dormant minimal residual disease in order to prevent lethal tumor recurrence.