Lithium effect on autophagy and cell death in skin melanoma

Melanomas are a group of tumors produced by malignant melanocytes, and despite the fact that the recent advances in molecular therapy and immunotherapy of skin melanoma significantly help improve the outcome of the disease, nevertheless, spontaneous mutations and dysregulation of various signaling pathways contribute to the tumor aggressiveness and the development of the drug resistance. Autophagy is a conservative intracellular mechanism that maintains cell homeostasis by processing damaged organelles. The role of autophagy in carcinogenesis, including melanoma, is ambiguous: on the one hand, autophagy contributes to the maintenance of intracellular homeostasis and cancer progression, but on the other hand, it can be aimed at activating processes leading to cell death. In certain cases, autophagy can enhance apoptotic signals, in particular, it is known that prolonged autophagy initiates the cell death. Currently, the growing number of studies confirm the possibility of using lithium as an antitumor agent in experimental oncology due to its capability to influence the signaling pathways, which govern the growth and development of tumor cells. Aims. It seems promising to investigate the capability of lithium to stimulate autophagy and apoptosis in skin melanoma cells to enhance cell death.