Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers are one of the most common forms of malignancies and still are the most important cause of cancer‐related mortality worldwide. Autophagy is a conserved catabolic pathway involving lysosomal degradation and recycling of whole cellular components, which is essential for cellular homeostasis. For instance, it acts as a pivotal intracellular quality control and repair mechanism but also implicated in cell reformation during cell differentiation and development. Indeed, GI cancer stem cells (CSCs) are thought to be responsible for tumour initiation, traditional therapies resistance, metastasis and tumour recurrence. Molecular mechanisms of autophagy in normal vs CSCs gain great interest worldwide. Here, we shed light on the role of autophagy in normal stem cells differentiation for embryonic progression and its role in maintaining the activity and self‐renewal capacity of CSCs which offer novel viewpoints on promising cancer therapeutic strategies based on the differential roles of autophagy in CSCs.

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癌症干细胞自噬的差异机制：强调胃肠道癌症

胃肠道（GI）癌症是最常见的恶性肿瘤形式之一，仍然是全球范围内与癌症相关的死亡率的最重要原因。自噬是一种保守的分解代谢途径，涉及溶酶体降解和整个细胞成分的再循环，这对于细胞体内平衡至关重要。例如，它充当关键的细胞内质量控制和修复机制，但也参与细胞分化和发育过程中的细胞重组。确实，胃肠道癌干细胞（CSC）被认为与肿瘤的发生，传统疗法的耐药性，转移和肿瘤复发有关。正常与CSCs中自噬的分子机制在世界范围内引起了极大的兴趣。这里，