The Role of the Vagus Nerve in Cancer Prognosis: A Systematic and a Comprehensive Review.
Author: De Couck M1,2, Caers R3,4, Spiegel D5, Gidron Y1,6
Affiliation:
1Mental Health and Wellbeing Research Group, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 103, 1090 Jette, Brussels, Belgium.
2Faculty of Health Care, University College Odisee, Aalst, Belgium.
3Department of Work and Organization Studies, KU Leuven, Brussels, Belgium.
4Faculty of Business and Sustainable Development, University of Seychelles, Mahe, Seychelles.
5Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
6SCALab, Lille 3 University & Siric Oncolille, Lille, France.
Conference/Journal: J Oncol.
Date published: 2018 Jul 2
Other:
Volume ID: 2018 , Pages: 1236787 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1155/2018/1236787. eCollection 2018. , Word Count: 171
This article reviews the role of the vagus nerve in tumor modulation and cancer prognosis. We present a systematic review of 12 epidemiological studies examining the relationship between heart rate variability, the main vagus nerve index, and prognosis in cancer patients (survival and tumor markers). These studies show that initially high vagal nerve activity predicts better cancer prognosis, and, in some studies, independent of confounders such as cancer stage and treatments. Since the design of the epidemiological studies is correlational, any causal relationship between heart rate variability and cancer prognosis cannot be inferred. However, various semi-experimental cohort studies in humans and experimental studies in animals have examined this causal relationship. The second part of this paper presents a comprehensive review including human and animal cohort and experimental studies showing that vagotomy accelerates tumor growth, while vagal nerve activation improves cancer prognosis. Based on all reviewed studies, it is concluded that the evidence supports a protective role of the vagus nerve in cancer and specifically in the metastatic stage.
PMID: 30057605 PMCID: PMC6051067 DOI: 10.1155/2018/1236787
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