{"title":"Cancer research needs neuroscience and neuroscientists","authors":"Michelle Monje, Frank Winkler","doi":"10.1038/s41593-025-01925-2","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The nervous system can drive the initiation, growth, spread, and therapy resistance of cancer, and cancer can manipulate the nervous system in ways that further support disease progression. Tumors growing within the brain or elsewhere in the body connect with neuronal networks in circuit-specific manners, via neuron-to-cancer synaptic interactions and paracrine crosstalk. Moreover, neural factors govern critical components of the tumor environment, such as the immune system, and cancer can use neural mechanisms in a malignant cell-intrinsic manner. Here we provide a personal view on the burgeoning field of cancer neuroscience and highlight the need to approach cancer research from a neuroscience perspective — together with neuroscientists.","PeriodicalId":19076,"journal":{"name":"Nature neuroscience","volume":"86 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":21.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nature neuroscience","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-01925-2","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NEUROSCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The nervous system can drive the initiation, growth, spread, and therapy resistance of cancer, and cancer can manipulate the nervous system in ways that further support disease progression. Tumors growing within the brain or elsewhere in the body connect with neuronal networks in circuit-specific manners, via neuron-to-cancer synaptic interactions and paracrine crosstalk. Moreover, neural factors govern critical components of the tumor environment, such as the immune system, and cancer can use neural mechanisms in a malignant cell-intrinsic manner. Here we provide a personal view on the burgeoning field of cancer neuroscience and highlight the need to approach cancer research from a neuroscience perspective — together with neuroscientists.
期刊介绍:
Nature Neuroscience, a multidisciplinary journal, publishes papers of the utmost quality and significance across all realms of neuroscience. The editors welcome contributions spanning molecular, cellular, systems, and cognitive neuroscience, along with psychophysics, computational modeling, and nervous system disorders. While no area is off-limits, studies offering fundamental insights into nervous system function receive priority.
The journal offers high visibility to both readers and authors, fostering interdisciplinary communication and accessibility to a broad audience. It maintains high standards of copy editing and production, rigorous peer review, rapid publication, and operates independently from academic societies and other vested interests.
In addition to primary research, Nature Neuroscience features news and views, reviews, editorials, commentaries, perspectives, book reviews, and correspondence, aiming to serve as the voice of the global neuroscience community.