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Sympathetic nervous system regulation of the tumour microenvironment
Open accessAbstract
The peripheral autonomic nervous system (ANS) is known to regulate gene expression in primary tumours and their surrounding microenvironment. Activation of the sympathetic division of the ANS in particular modulates gene expression programmes that promote metastasis of solid tumours by stimulating macrophage infiltration, inflammation, angiogenesis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition and tumour invasion, and by inhibiting cellular immune responses and programmed cell death. Haematological cancers are modulated by sympathetic nervous system (SNS) regulation of stem cell biology and haematopoietic differentiation programmes. In addition to identifying a molecular basis for physiologic stress effects on cancer, these findings have also identified new pharmacological strategies to inhibit cancer progression in vivo.
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“Parallel findings in animal and in vitro models support these data [11, 16–22].”
From Living Well: Protocol for a web-based program to improve quality of life in rural and urban ovarian cancer survivors (2024) · cites this paper as [22]
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“Activation of the sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis increases circulating levels of catecholamines and glucocorticoids (51, 52), which can dysregulate the immune system over time (53, 54).”
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“Stress signaling transduces its biological effects through hypersecretion of the corticotrophin-releasing hormone and activation of the peripheral autonomic and sympathetic nervous system, which has direct effects on tumor biology and immune response, promoting inflammation, angiogenesis, mesenchymal differentiation,…”
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“melanoma (a type of skin cancer), and pancreatic, lung, and prostate cancer cells (Cole et al., 2015; Lutgendorf & Sood, 2011).”
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Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Cole, S. W., Nagaraja, A. S., Lutgendorf, S. K., Green, P. A., & Sood, A. K.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (US)
- University of Iowa (US)
- National Cancer Institute (US)
- Venue
- Nature Reviews Cancer
- Published
- 2015-08-24
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 563-572
- ISSN
- 1474-175X (ISSN-L)
- 1474-1768
- PMC
- PMC4828959
- OpenAlex
- W1959055352
- Cited by
- 576
- References
- 132
- Citations by year
- 2026: 66 · 2025: 53 · 2024: 47 · 2023: 63 · 2022: 66 · 2021: 57 · 2020: 67 · 2019: 57 · 2018: 43 · 2017: 32 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 3
- FWCI
- 4.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature reviews. Cancer (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (AG017265, R37AG033590, AG033590, R01AG033590, P30AG017265)
- National Cancer Institute (CA 109298, CA177909, P50CA098258, U54CA151668, R01CA177909, CA083639, CA-104825, R01CA109298, CA140933, R01CA116778, R01CA104825, CA151668, CA-116778, R01CA140933, P50CA083639, CA098258, P30CA016672)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Cancer, Stress, Anesthesia, and Immune Response
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immune cells in cancer
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Vagus Nerve Stimulation Research
- Keywords
- sympathetic nervous system, tumor microenvironment, peripheral autonomic nervous system, beta-adrenergic signaling, physiological stress, metastasis, macrophage infiltration, tumor inflammation, angiogenesis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, tumor invasion, antitumor immunity, hematologic cancer, cancer stem cells, hematopoietic differentiation
- MeSH terms
- Cell Differentiation, Humans, Neoplasms, Neovascularization, Pathologic, Sympathetic Nervous System, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, Tumor Microenvironment
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