A response to the two faces of autophagy in DCIS

Abstract

Regarding our recent Opinion article (What is the malignant nature of human ductal carcinoma in situ?Nature Rev. Cancer 11, 68–75 (2011))1 we thank Drs Yu and Shao for their correspondence (The two faces of autophagy and the pathological underestimation of DCIS. Nature Rev. Cancer July 2011 (doi:10.1038/nrc2950-c1))2, which provides interesting discussion points relative to our proposals on autophagy therapy for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)1, 3. Drs Yu and Shao raise three points: that although anti-autophagy therapy can target a survival mechanism used within the hypoxic and nutrient-deprived intraductal microenvironment of DCIS, anti-autophagy therapy may not be desirable for treating invasive breast cancer; that because of the sampling error inherent in core-needle biopsies, patients may be diagnosed with DCIS who have invasive cancer that was missed by the biopsy; and whether chloroquine phosphate can penetrate into the nonvascular interior of the DCIS lesion that is surrounded by the basement membrane.