Research advances in role of autophagy in radiation-induced bystander effect

Radiotherapy is one of the three pillars in malignant tumor treatment. However, radiotherapy also causes damage to non-irradiated cells, tissues and organs while killing irradiated tumor cells, which is called radiation-induced bystander effect (RIBE). Increasing evidences show that autophagy regulates RIBE, and investigation of its mechanism can provide evidences for clinical high-precision radiotherapy and radiation protection. In this review, we summarize the research advances in RIBE and how autophagy exerts influence on RIBE.