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A tumour-to-brain pathway hinders anticancer defences

Sensory neurons detect internal and external cues in organs and send this information to the brain. Lung cancer exploits this pathway to lessen immune responses.
By
  1. Aeson Chang

    1. Aeson Chang is in the Department of Drug Discovery Biology, Monash University, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia.

  2. Simon McMullan

    1. Simon McMullan is at Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia.

Sensory neurons have emerged as unexpected contributors to cancer progression, helping to drive tumour growth and invasion. Studies1,2 have identified signalling from neurons to tumours, but the consequences of communication from tumours to neurons is probably also relevant3. Writing in Nature, Wei et al.4 reveal that sensory neurons that form connections with lung tumours transmit signals to the brain that activate a neural stress-response system. This response suppresses immune function in the ecosystem around the tumour, called the microenvironment, promoting disease progression.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00170-2

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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