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IMAGE: Jun-Lin Guan, PhD, Francis Brunning Professor and Chair of UC's Department of Cancer Biology.
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Credit: University of Cincinnati
Recycling cans and bottles is a good practice. It helps keep the planet clean.
The same is true for recycling within cells in the body. Each cell has a way of cleaning out waste in order to regenerate newer, healthier cells. This "cell recycling" is called autophagy.
Targeting and changing this process has been linked to helping control or diminish certain cancers. Now, University of Cincinnati researchers have shown that completely halting this process in a very aggressive form of breast cancer may improve outcomes for patients one day.