Of note, a low constitutive level of autophagy is required for cell survival, as evidenced by the fact that the knockout of ATG genes, Beclin‐1, or AMBRA1 is embryonically lethal in mice.13, 62 As described in more detail below, there are several mechanisms in cancer that can reduce autophagic flux, eg mutations in core autophagy genes that may trigger cancer development. This evidence concerns the gene BECN1 and cancer.