In glioma cells, hirudin led to autophagic cell death mediated by the inhibition (phosphorylation) of the mTOR pathway and its downstream substrates ULK (“Unc-51 like kinase complex”), P70S6K (“ribosomal protein S6 kinase beta-1”), and 4EBP1 (“eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1”). Here, MTOR is linked to central nervous system cancer.