BECN1 and breast cancer: On the one hand, combining lapatinib with a pharmacological inhibitor of autophagy resulted in reduced cell death,27 whereas on the other blocking autophagy by beclin-1 depletion potentiated the therapeutic efficiency of lapatinib.28 Furthermore, inhibition of epirubicin-triggered autophagy enhances therapeutic efficiency in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells.29 Given the possible role for autophagy as therapeutic strategy, it is crucial to emphasize that different stress inducers lead either to a cytoprotective or cytotoxic autophagy response.