Researchers Discover How Tumors Use Peripheral Nerves to Advance Cancer Progression

Cancer may be doing far more than growing uncontrollably-it may also be rewiring the body’s nervous system to help itself survive. Scientists are now uncovering evidence that tumors can hijack nerves, manipulate brain-body communication, and create a microenvironment that supports cancer growth, spread, and resistance to treatment. A new review published in Research proposes a new three-dimensional framework to explain how cancers interact with the peripheral nervous system.

Traditionally, nerve involvement in cancer was mostly linked to perineural invasion, where tumors spread into nearby nerves. But researchers now say the relationship is far more complex. Tumors appear capable of remodeling nerves, attracting new nerve growth, damaging nerve tissue, and even hijacking long-distance neural circuits that influence immunity and metabolism throughout the body.

The review divides these interactions into several major categories. One involves tumor innervation, where nerves grow into tumors and release neurotransmitters and neuropeptides that can help cancer cells survive and evade immune attack. Another involves cancer-induced neuropathy, in which tumors damage nerves even without directly invading them. Researchers also describe long-distance neural regulation, suggesting cancers may influence communication pathways between organs and the brain.

Scientists further found that nerve signaling does not act only on cancer cells. It can also reshape the behavior of immune cells, fibroblasts, blood vessels, and other components of the tumor microenvironment. Some cancer cells may even develop neuron-like properties — a process called neuronal mimicry — allowing tumors to use neural signaling systems to boost growth and treatment resistance.

Researchers say these discoveries could open new therapeutic strategies. While many questions remain, scientists believe understanding how tumors exploit the nervous system may reveal an entirely new dimension of cancer biology — and potentially a ne

REFERENCE: Shao, F., et al. (2026). Peripheral Nerve–Cancer Interactions in the Tumor Microenvironment. Research. DOI: 10.34133/research.1221. https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/research.1221