Are lung cancer tumors hijacking the nervous system?
According to the Cleveland Clinic, a quarter of cancer deaths can be attributed to one source: cachexia. Cachexia is a syndrome that accompanies underlying chronic illness and causes unwanted muscle and fat loss, reducing quality of life and sometimes even limiting treatment options.
edited by Sadie Harley , reviewed by Andrew Zinin
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A new study led by Thales Papagiannakopoulos, Ph.D., an incoming Salk professor, published in Science , points to a potential new target for preventing cachexia.
The researchers found that a common genetic subset of lung cancer is more prone to cachexia and that tumors from this subtype talk to the brain through sensory neurons in the lung. Silencing these sensory nerves to disrupt the tumor-to-brain connection reduced cachexia, as did blocking the production of the lipid signaling molecule prostaglandin E2 (PGE 2 ) through dietary changes.
The team suspects that the tumors use PGE 2 to communicate with the nervous system, suggesting that blocking this communication could be a powerful therapeutic strategy to improve patient outcomes.