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Autonomic nervous system and cancer

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Abstract

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the main homeostatic regulatory system of the body. However, this widely distributed neural network can be easily affected by cancer and by the adverse events induced by cancer treatments. In this review, we have classified the ANS complications of cancer into two categories. The first includes direct cancer-related complications, such as primary ANS tumors (pheochromocytoma, paraganglioma or neuroblastoma), as well as autonomic manifestations induced by non-primary ANS tumors (primary brain tumors and metastases). The second comprises indirect ANS complications, which include autonomic features related to cancer therapy (chemotherapy, radiotherapy and/or surgery) and those not related to cancer therapy, such as paraneoplastic autonomic syndromes. We also review the molecular relationship and modulation between the ANS and the cancer cells and their microenvironment.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by PI1501303 Grant from Instituto de Salud Carlos III and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuro-Oncology Unit, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge–Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) l’Hospitalet, Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical Research (IDIBELL), Feixa Llarga s/n, 08907, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain

    Marta Simó & Jordi Bruna

  2. Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group, IDIBELL, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain

    Marta Simó

  3. Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, Institute of Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

    Xavier Navarro & Jordi Bruna

  4. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

    Xavier Navarro, Victor J. Yuste & Jordi Bruna

  5. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute of Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

    Victor J. Yuste

Authors
  1. Marta Simó
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  2. Xavier Navarro
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  3. Victor J. Yuste
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  4. Jordi Bruna
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jordi Bruna.

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The manuscript does not contain information about not previously published clinical studies or original patient data. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Simó, M., Navarro, X., Yuste, V.J. et al. Autonomic nervous system and cancer. Clin Auton Res 28, 301–314 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-018-0523-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-018-0523-1

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