Mitophagy’s Impacts on Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases: Implications for Future Therapies

Authors

Jason Huang
Vincent Truong Pham
Shaozi Fu
Gang Huang
Ya-Guang Liu
Lei Zheng

Publication Date

8-1-2025

Journal

Journal of Hematology & Oncology

DOI

10.1186/s13045-025-01727-w

PMID

40750884

PMCID

PMC12317492

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

8-1-2025

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Abstract

Substantial evidence supports an inverse relationship between cancer and neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs), but few studies investigate the biological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. While previous explanations-such as inflammation, reactive oxygen species (ROS), genetic mutations, and cell death-remain significant, they ultimately converge on mitophagy. This review identifies mitophagy as a pivotal factor in the development of both cancer and NDDs, while also evaluating specific mechanisms and processes to clarify how mitophagy connects these opposing disease trajectories. By examining these factors, we aim to uncover the underlying mechanisms that explain the inverse relationship between cancer and NDDs, which will help develop therapeutic strategies that target common factors for both conditions.

Keywords

Humans, Mitophagy, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Neoplasms, Reactive Oxygen Species, Animals, Mitochondria, Mitophagy, Mitochondrial dysfunction, Cancer, Neurodegenerative diseases, Inflammation, ROS, Mutations, Cell death, Calcium, Therapeutics

Published Open-Access

yes

Recommended Citation

Huang, Jason; Pham, Vincent Truong; Fu, Shaozi; et al., "Mitophagy’s Impacts on Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases: Implications for Future Therapies" (2025). Faculty, Staff and Student Publications. 5222.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/uthgsbs_docs/5222