Therapeutic potential of the vagus nerve in cancer.
Author: Reijmen E1, Vannucci L2, De Couck M3, De Grève J4, Gidron Y5
Affiliation:
1Laboratory of Molecular Oncology and Department of Medical Oncology, Oncologisch Centrum, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: eva.nina.reijmen@vub.be.
2Laboratory of Immunotherapy, Institute of Microbiology of The Czech Academy of Sciences, 14220 Prague 4, Czech Republic.
3Department of Public Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing Research Group, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium; Faculty of Health Care, University College Odisee, Aalst, Belgium.
4Laboratory of Molecular Oncology and Department of Medical Oncology, Oncologisch Centrum, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
5Department of Public Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing Research Group, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium; SCALab, Lille3 University & Siric Oncolille, Lille, France.
Conference/Journal: Immunol Lett.
Date published: 2018 Aug 2
Other:
Pages: S0165-2478(18)30193-7 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.imlet.2018.07.006. [Epub ahead of print] , Word Count: 133
Accumulating evidence points to a beneficial effect of vagus nerve activity in tumor development. The vagus nerve is proposed to slow tumorigenesis because of its anti-inflammatory properties mediated through ACh and the α7nAChR. Since α7nAChRs are widely expressed by many types of immune cells we hypothesized that the vagus nerve affects the tumor microenvironment and anticancer immunity. We found direct evidence in studies using animal cancer models that vagus nerve stimulation alters immunological responses relevant to the tumor microenvironment. Also studies in pathologies other than cancer suggest a role for the vagus nerve in altering immunological responses relevant to anticancer immunity. These results provide a rationale to expect that vagus nerve stimulation, in combination with conventional cancer treatments, may improve the prognosis of cancer patients by promoting anticancer immunity.
PMID: 30077536 DOI: 10.1016/j.imlet.2018.07.006
BACK
