Cell autophagy is one type of programmed cell death in eukaryotic cells. And it has been widely implicated in many physiological and pathological processes, including cancer. Cell autophagy is a bulk degradation system, which controls the clearance and re -use of intracellular constituents, and is important for the maintenance of an amino acid pool essential for survival. Recent studies show that cell autophagy is correlated closely to oral squamous cell carcinoma. This review summarizes classifications, functions, regulatory mechanisms and autophagy-related genes and proteins. This review also concentrates on predisposing factors of cell autophagy and the correlation between cell autophagy and oral squamous cell carcinoma and other tumors.
