Microenvironmental autophagy promotes tumour growth

Using a Drosophila model of tumorigenesis, Tor Erik Rusten and colleagues show that tumour cells under stress induce autophagy in their microenvironment, by oncogene and inflammatory signalling, as a way of generating nutrients for tumour growth and dissemination. These findings illustrate the importance of tumour-environmental crosstalk and shed light on the potential of systemic autophagy as a targetable process in cancer.