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REVIEW article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1460493
This article is part of the Research Topic Cancer Plasticity and The Microenvironment: Implications for Immunity and Therapy Response: Volume II View all 12 articles

The sympathetic nervous system shapes the tumor microenvironment to impair chemotherapy response

Provisionally accepted
Annabel V. Manoleras Annabel V. Manoleras Erica K. Sloan Erica K. Sloan AESON CHANG AESON CHANG *
  • Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The tumor microenvironment influences cancer progression and response to treatments, which ultimately impacts the survival of patients with cancer. The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is a core component of solid tumors that arise in the body. In addition to influencing cancer progression, a role for the SNS in the effectiveness of cancer treatments is beginning to emerge. This review explores evidence that the SNS impairs chemotherapy efficacy. We review findings of studies that evaluated the impact of neural ablation on chemotherapy outcomes and discuss plausible mechanisms for the impact of neural signaling on chemotherapy efficacy. We then discuss implications for clinical practice, including opportunities to block neural signaling to improve response to chemotherapy.

    Keywords: Cancer, Sympathetic Nervous System, chemotherapy, beta-blocker, metastasis

    Received: 06 Jul 2024; Accepted: 30 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Manoleras, Sloan and CHANG. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: AESON CHANG, Monash University, Melbourne, 3800, Victoria, Australia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.