Abstract
The emerging field of cancer neuroscience has demonstrated great progress in revealing the crucial role of the nervous system in cancer initiation and progression. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by perineural invasion and modulated by autonomic (sympathetic and parasympathetic) and sensory innervations. Here, we further demonstrated that within the tumor microenvironment of PDAC, nociceptor neurons interacted with cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) through calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and nerve growth factor (NGF). This interaction led to the inhibition of interleukin-15 expression in CAFs, suppressing the infiltration and cytotoxic function of natural killer (NK) cells and thereby promoting PDAC progression and cancer pain. In PDAC patients, nociceptive innervation of tumor tissue is negatively correlated with the infiltration of NK cells while positively correlated with pain intensity. This association serves as an independent prognostic factor for both overall survival and relapse-free survival for PDAC patients. Our findings highlight the crucial regulation of NK cells by nociceptor neurons through interaction with CAFs in the development of PDAC. We also propose that targeting nociceptor neurons or CGRP signaling may offer a promising therapy for PDAC and cancer pain.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout








Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Deidentified scRNA-seq raw data are available from the National Genomics Data Center (https://ngdc.cncb.ac.cn/subcenter/1) under accession number OEP005530 (Shared URL: https://www.biosino.org/node/project/detail/OEP005530). Further information related to the data reported in this paper can be acquired from the lead contact Jihui Hao (haojihui@tjmuch.com) upon reasonable request.
References
Monje, M. et al. Roadmap for the emerging field of cancer neuroscience. Cell 181, 219–222 (2020).
Winkler, F. et al. Cancer neuroscience: state of the field, emerging directions. Cell 186, 1689–1707 (2023).
Mancusi, R. & Monje, M. The neuroscience of cancer. Nature 618, 467–479 (2023).
Wang, K. et al. STING suppresses bone cancer pain via immune and neuronal modulation. Nat. Commun. 12, 4558 (2021).
Hanahan, D. & Monje, M. Cancer hallmarks intersect with neuroscience in the tumor microenvironment. Cancer Cell 41, 573–580 (2023).
Shi, D. D. et al. Therapeutic avenues for cancer neuroscience: translational frontiers and clinical opportunities. Lancet Oncol. 23, e62–e74 (2022).
Ferdoushi, A. et al. Tumor innervation and clinical outcome in pancreatic cancer. Sci. Rep. 11, 7390 (2021).
Kondo, N. et al. An increased number of perineural invasions is independently associated with poor survival of patients with resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Pancreas 44, 1345–1351 (2015).
Crippa, S. et al. Implications of perineural invasion on disease recurrence and survival after pancreatectomy for pancreatic head ductal adenocarcinoma. Ann. Surg. 276, 378–385 (2022).
Hinshaw, D. C. & Shevde, L. A. The tumor microenvironment innately modulates cancer progression. Cancer Res. 79, 4557–4566 (2019).
Wang, H. et al. Role of the nervous system in cancers: a review. Cell Death Discov. 7, 76 (2021).
Demir, I. E. et al. Targeting nNOS ameliorates the severe neuropathic pain due to chronic pancreatitis. EBioMedicine 46, 431–443 (2019).
Ceyhan, G. O. et al. Pancreatic neuropathy results in “neural remodeling” and altered pancreatic innervation in chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. Am. J. Gastroenterol. 104, 2555–2565 (2009).
Grossberg, A. J. et al. Multidisciplinary standards of care and recent progress in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. CA Cancer J. Clin. 70, 375–403 (2020).
Ni, B. et al. Crosstalk between peripheral innervation and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Neurosci. Bull. 39, 1717–1731 (2023).
Saloman, J. L. et al. Ablation of sensory neurons in a genetic model of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma slows initiation and progression of cancer. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 113, 3078–3083 (2016).
Sinha, S. et al. PanIN neuroendocrine cells promote tumorigenesis via neuronal cross-talk. Cancer Res. 77, 1868–1879 (2017).
Wu, M. et al. Innervation of nociceptor neurons in the spleen promotes germinal center responses and humoral immunity. Cell 187, 2935–2951.e19 (2024).
Balood, M. et al. Nociceptor neurons affect cancer immunosurveillance. Nature 611, 405–412 (2022).
Pinho-Ribeiro, F. A. et al. Blocking neuronal signaling to immune cells treats streptococcal invasive infection. Cell 173, 1083–1097.e22 (2018).
Baral, P. et al. Nociceptor sensory neurons suppress neutrophil and γδ T cell responses in bacterial lung infections and lethal pneumonia. Nat. Med. 24, 417–426 (2018).
Tamari, M. et al. Sensory neurons promote immune homeostasis in the lung. Cell 187, 44–61.e17 (2024).
Ceyhan, G. O. et al. Pancreatic neuropathy and neuropathic pain—a comprehensive pathomorphological study of 546 cases. Gastroenterology 136, 177–186.e1 (2009).
Selvaraj, D., Hirth, M., Gandla, J. & Kuner, R. A mouse model for pain and neuroplastic changes associated with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Pain 158, 1609–1621 (2017).
Li, L. et al. The impact of TRPV1 on cancer pathogenesis and therapy: a systematic review. Int J. Biol. Sci. 17, 2034–2049 (2021).
Lai, N. Y. et al. Gut-innervating nociceptor neurons regulate Peyer’s Patch Microfold cells and SFB levels to mediate Salmonella host defense. Cell 180, 33–49.e22 (2020).
Wang, X. et al. Phenotype screens of murine pancreatic cancer identify a Tgf-α-Ccl2-paxillin axis driving human-like neural invasion. J. Clin. Invest. 133, e166333 (2023).
Makhmutova, M. & Caicedo, A. Optical imaging of pancreatic innervation. Front. Endocrinol. 12, 663022 (2021).
Schwartz, E. S. et al. TRPV1 and TRPA1 antagonists prevent the transition of acute to chronic inflammation and pain in chronic pancreatitis. J. Neurosci. 33, 5603–5611 (2013).
Ma, Y. et al. Combination of PD-1 inhibitor and OX40 agonist induces tumor rejection and immune memory in mouse models of pancreatic cancer. Gastroenterology 159, 306–319.e12 (2020).
Wang, K. et al. PD-1 blockade inhibits osteoclast formation and murine bone cancer pain. J. Clin. Invest. 130, 3603–3620 (2020).
Wakabayashi, H. et al. Decreased sensory nerve excitation and bone pain associated with mouse Lewis lung cancer in TRPV1-deficient mice. J. Bone Miner. Metab. 36, 274–285 (2018).
Zhang, Y., Chen, M., Liu, Z., Wang, X. & Ji, T. The neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide links perineural invasion with lymph node metastasis in oral squamous cell carcinoma. BMC Cancer 21, 1254 (2021).
Croop, R. et al. Oral rimegepant for preventive treatment of migraine: a phase 2/3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet 397, 51–60 (2021).
Lipton, R. B. et al. Rimegepant, an oral calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonist, for migraine. N. Engl. J. Med. 381, 142–149 (2019).
Shimasaki, N., Jain, A. & Campana, D. NK cells for cancer immunotherapy. Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 19, 200–218 (2020).
Dean, I. et al. Rapid functional impairment of natural killer cells following tumor entry limits anti-tumor immunity. Nat. Commun. 15, 683 (2024).
Wang, D. & Wei, H. Natural killer cells in tumor immunotherapy. Cancer Biol. Med. 20, 539–544 (2023).
Kurz, E. et al. Exercise-induced engagement of the IL-15/IL-15Rα axis promotes anti-tumor immunity in pancreatic cancer. Cancer Cell 40, 720–737.e5 (2022).
Rebelo, R., Xavier, C. P. R., Giovannetti, E. & Vasconcelos, M. H. Fibroblasts in pancreatic cancer: molecular and clinical perspectives. Trends Mol. Med. 29, 439–453 (2023).
Li, X. et al. Sonic hedgehog paracrine signaling activates stromal cells to promote perineural invasion in pancreatic cancer. Clin. Cancer Res. 20, 4326–4338 (2014).
Stopczynski, R. E. et al. Neuroplastic changes occur early in the development of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Cancer Res. 74, 1718–1727 (2014).
Saloman, J. L. et al. Systemic depletion of nerve growth factor inhibits disease progression in a genetically engineered model of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Pancreas 47, 856–863 (2018).
Ye, Y., Xie, T. & Amit, M. Targeting the nerve-cancer circuit. Cancer Res. 83, 2445–2447 (2023).
Wang, B. et al. Combinatorial sympathetic and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) blockades inhibit the murine melanoma growth by targeting infiltrating T cells. Transl. Cancer Res. 10, 899–913 (2021).
Globig, A. M. et al. The β(1)-adrenergic receptor links sympathetic nerves to T cell exhaustion. Nature 622, 383–392 (2023).
Yang, M. W. et al. Perineural invasion reprograms the immune microenvironment through cholinergic signaling in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Cancer Res. 80, 1991–2003 (2020).
Szallasi, A. Resiniferatoxin: Nature’s precision medicine to silence TRPV1-positive afferents. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 24, 15042 (2023).
Brown, D. C. Resiniferatoxin: The evolution of the “Molecular Scalpel” for chronic pain relief. Pharmaceuticals 9, 47 (2016).
Brown, D. C., Agnello, K. & Iadarola, M. J. Intrathecal resiniferatoxin in a dog model: efficacy in bone cancer pain. Pain 156, 1018–1024 (2015).
Schnittert, J., Bansal, R. & Prakash, J. Targeting pancreatic stellate cells in cancer. Trends Cancer 5, 128–142 (2019).
Sparmann, G. et al. Inhibition of lymphocyte apoptosis by pancreatic stellate cells: impact of interleukin-15. Am. J. Physiol. Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 289, G842–G851 (2005).
Ma, S., Caligiuri, M. A. & Yu, J. Harnessing IL-15 signaling to potentiate NK cell-mediated cancer immunotherapy. Trends Immunol. 43, 833–847 (2022).
Vivier, E. et al. Natural killer cell therapies. Nature 626, 727–736 (2024).
Renz, B. W. et al. β2 Adrenergic-neurotrophin feedforward loop promotes pancreatic cancer. Cancer Cell 33, 75–90.e7 (2018).
Ramer, M. S., Bradbury, E. J., Michael, G. J., Lever, I. J. & McMahon, S. B. Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor increases calcitonin gene-related peptide immunoreactivity in sensory and motoneurons in vivo. Eur. J. Neurosci. 18, 2713–2721 (2003).
Kobayashi, H. et al. Neuro-mesenchymal interaction mediated by a β2 adrenergic-nerve growth factor feedforward loop promotes colorectal cancer progression. Cancer Discov. 15, 202–226 (2025).
Bennett, M. I. Mechanism-based cancer-pain therapy. Pain 158, S74–S78 (2017).
Schweizerhof, M. et al. Hematopoietic colony-stimulating factors mediate tumor-nerve interactions and bone cancer pain. Nat. Med. 15, 802–807 (2009).
Selvaraj, D. et al. A functional role for VEGFR1 expressed in peripheral sensory neurons in cancer pain. Cancer Cell 27, 780–796 (2015).
Jimenez-Andrade, J. M., Ghilardi, J. R., Castañeda-Corral, G., Kuskowski, M. A. & Mantyh, P. W. Preventive or late administration of anti-NGF therapy attenuates tumor-induced nerve sprouting, neuroma formation, and cancer pain. Pain 152, 2564–2574 (2011).
Zhao, T. et al. ESE3-positive PSCs drive pancreatic cancer fibrosis, chemoresistance and poor prognosis via tumour-stromal IL-1β/NF-κB/ESE3 signalling axis. Br. J. Cancer 127, 1461–1472 (2022).
Liu, J. et al. Tumoral EHF predicts the efficacy of anti-PD1 therapy in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. J. Exp. Med. 216, 656–673 (2019).
Donnelly, C. R. et al. STING controls nociception via type I interferon signalling in sensory neurons. Nature 591, 275–280 (2021).
Luo, X. et al. IL-23/IL-17A/TRPV1 axis produces mechanical pain via macrophage-sensory neuron crosstalk in female mice. Neuron 109, 2691–2706.e5 (2021).
Lovell, M. R. et al. Effect of cancer pain guideline implementation on pain outcomes among adult outpatients with cancer-related pain: A stepped wedge cluster randomized trial. JAMA Netw. Open 5, e220060 (2022).
de Conno, F. et al. Pain measurement in cancer patients: a comparison of six methods. Pain 57, 161–166 (1994).
Gerbershagen, H. J., Rothaug, J., Kalkman, C. J. & Meissner, W. Determination of moderate-to-severe postoperative pain on the numeric rating scale: a cut-off point analysis applying four different methods. Br. J. Anaesth. 107, 619–626 (2011).
Acknowledgements
The authors would thank Prof. Zilong Wang (Southern University of Science and Technology, China) for providing TRPV1-Cre and DTR mice. This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82030092 and 82273362), Major Project of Tianjin Public Health Science and Technology Program (24ZXGZSY00020), Tianjin Key Medical Discipline (Specialty) Construction Project (TJYXZDXK-009A), and State Key Laboratory of Druggability Evaluation and Systematic Translational Medicine Project (QZ23-1).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
J.H., R.R.J., X.W., and K.W. conceived and designed the study. K.W., B.N., Y.X., Z.L., L.Y., C.M., S.G., H.W., Y.M., T.X.Z., W.Y., F.Z., and Y.Z. performed the experiments. C.H., Y.X., T.S.Z., Y.F., A.C., C.Y., and J.Y. carried out data analysis. K.W. and X.W. wrote the first drafts of the manuscript; R.R.J. and J.H. edited the manuscript. Illustrations were created by B.N. and Y.X. using BioRender. All authors had full access to the data and approved the final version. J.H., X.W., R.R.J., and K.W. were responsible for the decision to submit the manuscript.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Supplementary information
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, K., Ni, B., Xie, Y. et al. Nociceptor neurons promote PDAC progression and cancer pain by interaction with cancer-associated fibroblasts and suppression of natural killer cells. Cell Res 35, 362–380 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41422-025-01098-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41422-025-01098-4
This article is cited by
-
Cancer-nervous system crosstalk: from biological mechanism to therapeutic opportunities
Molecular Cancer (2025)
-
Integrating neuroscience and oncology: neuroimmune crosstalk in the initiation and progression of digestive system tumors
Molecular Cancer (2025)
-
Neuro-immune cross-talk in cancer
Nature Reviews Cancer (2025)
-
Neural crossroads of pancreatic cancer: how nociceptors drive tumor progression and immune evasion
Cell Research (2025)
-
Molecular stratification of prostate cancer through sensory perception-related multi-omics analysis reveals chemoresistant mechanisms
Cellular Oncology (2025)