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Role of the parasympathetic nervous system in cancer initiation and progression

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Abstract

The nervous system plays an important role in cancer initiation and progression. Accumulated evidences clearly show that the sympathetic nervous system exerts stimulatory effects on carcinogenesis and cancer growth. However, the role of the parasympathetic nervous system in cancer has been much less elucidated. Whereas retrospective studies in vagotomized patients and experiments employing vagotomized animals indicate the parasympathetic nervous system has an inhibitory effect on cancer, clinical studies in patients with prostate cancer indicate it has stimulatory effects. Therefore, the aim of this paper is a critical evaluation of the available data related to the role of the parasympathetic nervous system in cancer.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency (APVV-17-0090) and VEGA Grant 2/0028/16.

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  1. Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Physiology, Comenius University, Sasinkova 2, 813 72, Bratislava, Slovakia

    M. Tibensky & B. Mravec

  2. Biomedical Research Center, Institute of Experimental Endocrinology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia

    M. Tibensky & B. Mravec

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Tibensky, M., Mravec, B. Role of the parasympathetic nervous system in cancer initiation and progression. Clin Transl Oncol 23, 669–681 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12094-020-02465-w

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