Targeting the peripheral neural-tumour microenvironment for cancer therapy.
Dan YanivBrandi MattsonSébastien TalbotFrederico Omar Gleber-NettoMoran AmitPublished in: Nature reviews. Drug discovery (2024)
As the field of cancer neuroscience expands, the strategic targeting of interactions between neurons, cancer cells and other elements in the tumour microenvironment represents a potential paradigm shift in cancer treatment, comparable to the advent of our current understanding of tumour immunology. Cancer cells actively release growth factors that stimulate tumour neo-neurogenesis, and accumulating evidence indicates that tumour neo-innervation propels tumour progression, inhibits tumour-related pro-inflammatory cytokines, promotes neovascularization, facilitates metastasis and regulates immune exhaustion and evasion. In this Review, we give an up-to-date overview of the dynamics of the tumour microenvironment with an emphasis on tumour innervation by the peripheral nervous system, as well as current preclinical and clinical evidence of the benefits of targeting the nervous system in cancer, laying a scientific foundation for further clinical trials. Combining empirical data with a biomarker-driven approach to identify and hone neuronal targets implicated in cancer and its spread can pave the way for swift clinical integration.
Keyphrases
- cancer therapy
- clinical trial
- stem cells
- papillary thyroid
- drug delivery
- randomized controlled trial
- squamous cell
- spinal cord
- mesenchymal stem cells
- squamous cell carcinoma
- brain injury
- electronic health record
- deep learning
- endothelial cells
- subarachnoid hemorrhage
- optical coherence tomography
- heat stress
- childhood cancer
- cerebral ischemia