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How thought itself can drive tumour growth

Tumour cells can form connections with neurons in the brain. Examination of a variety of types of evidence concerning human brain cancer sheds light on how these tumour–neuron interactions affect cognition and survival times.
  1. George M. Ibrahim

    1. George M. Ibrahim is at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada, and at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto M5G1X8, Canada.

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  2. Michael D. Taylor

    1. Michael D. Taylor is at Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Hematology-Oncology Section, Department of Pediatrics – Hematology/Oncology and Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77004, USA, and in the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Research Program, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston.

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Few effective treatments are available for a common and universally fatal type of adult brain tumour called a malignant glioma. Although these tumours exist exclusively in the central nervous system, the interactions between malignant glioma cells and the 86 billion neurons in the human brain are poorly understood. This is particularly relevant because most people with the disease develop progressive cognitive decline that robs them of quality of life during their final months1. Writing in Nature, Krishna et al.2 show that malignant gliomas can grow by modifying brain circuitry, thus taking cognitive function away from their host and ultimately leading to death. These insights might lead to fundamentally new approaches to glioma treatment and provide a means of limiting cognitive decline in affected individuals.

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Nature 617, 469-471 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01387-1

References

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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