Apoptosis, necroptosis and autophagy in colorectal cancer: Associations with tumor aggressiveness and p53 status.

Objective: Cleaved caspase-3 (CC3), phosphorylated-mixed-lineage kinase domain-like protein (p-MLKL), and microtubule-associated protein-1 light chain-3B (LC3B) have pivotal functions in apoptosis, necroptosis, and autophagy, respectively. In vitro studies have shown that interaction of these proteins are complex and their roles in cancer can be influenced by many factors. However, these findings are not adequately assessed in human tissues.