MTOR and colorectal carcinoma: For instance, treatment of HCT116 and SW480 human CRC cells with the second-generation photosensitizers meta-tetrahydroxyphenylchlorin (m-THPC) and verteporfin (VP) produces a large amount of ROS, induces autophagy by activating c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and inhibiting the phosphorylation of mTOR; in addition, m-THPC and VP also effectively suppress the tumor progression of HCT116 xenografts (56).