The nerves in a woman's breast are actively sending out chemical signals that can physically stop cancer from spreading to the rest of the body.
Nerves were often thought to be passive bystanders or even highways that help cancer travel through the body. Sensory neurons actually secrete a molecule called CGRP that acts as a stop signal for breast cancer cells. This signal prevents the tumor from building invadopodia, which are the tiny drilling tools cancer uses to break into the bloodstream. When this neural signaling is strong, the cancer remains localized and far less dangerous. Protecting or stimulating these specific nerves could become a new way to keep early-stage cancer from becoming a terminal disease.
Sensory Neurons Inhibit Invadopodia and Metastasis via Direct CGRP-RAMP1-cAMP Signaling to Cancer Cells
SSRN · 6719143
Breast cancer is globally the most common cancer among women. Although the five-year survival rate exceeds 80% for patients with localized disease, it drops to approximately 30% once metastasis occurs, underscoring the urgent need to define mechanisms that drive metastatic progression. Breast is a highly innervated organ and most of its innervation is sensory. However, whether sensory neurons can directly impact breast cancer cells remains an understudied topic. Here, we show that mammary tumors