Work

The neuroscience of brain cancers

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: In the central nervous system (CNS), where neuronal activity promotes brain development and plasticity, including glial precursor cell proliferation, the activity of neurons robustly drives the initiation, growth, invasion, treatment resistance, and progression of brain cancers such as adult and pediatric hemispheric high-grade gliomas, diffuse midline gliomas such as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), and pediatric low-grade optic gliomas. The underlying mechanisms involve both neuronal-activity-regulated paracrine signaling and direct electrochemical communication through neuron-to-glioma synapses. Neuronal inputs to tumors can then be propagated through connections between cancer cells. In turn, brain cancers such as gliomas remodel neural circuits to increase excitability, thereby augmenting the tumor-promoting effects of brain activity and contributing to tumor-associated seizures and neurological impairments, including cognitive deficits. These principles of neuron-cancer interactions are proving to be relevant to other cancers in the brain and the body, underscoring the importance of approaching cancers from a neuroscience perspective.

Source: Neuron

DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.07.012

Author: Michelle Monje

Institutions: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford Medicine, Stanford University

Language: English

Topic: Glioma Diagnosis and Treatment

Subfield: Genetics

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $10,400