Pancreatic cancer is hard to detect and treat, but new research offers new information on nerve signals present in the early stages.
By Saminder Marwa
Meet the new micro-signals helping us catch notoriously evasive cancers before they even grow.
Cancer: more than rogue cells
Oftentimes, cancer is described as a group of cells going haywire where they shouldn’t. Despite this, scientists are increasingly discovering that tumors instead behave more like complex, inter-linked communities, constantly interacting with nearby cells, blood vessels, and nerves.
Cancer is characterized by tumors, which are uncontrolled growths and spread of cells. Tumors can be harmless (benign) when they do not spread, or grow very slowly. However, the most-discussed tumors are the ones that are able to spread, or metastasize, known as malignant tumors. When cancers metastasize, they are able to form secondary tumors in other parts of the body, which can then spread even more.
Tumors manipulate their environment
Tumors work by hijacking areas around them, ensuring blood and nutrient supply to allow for faster turnover of cells and more metastasis (further spreading). This is classified as stage 4 cancer, and it requires harsh treatment, like chemotherapy.
Many cancer treatments are focused on targeting the metastasis stage, to prevent tumors from spreading, but this requires the cancer to be detected early—which is why regular screening is so important.
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Why pancreatic cancer?
Pancreatic cancer is a tumor that is found in the pancreas, an organ located behind the stomach that regulates digestion and blood sugar. Symptoms of pancreatic cancer usually only appear after the disease has progressed, meaning it’s often difficult to diagnose at early stages.
Furthermore, pancreatic cancer resists most forms of treatment. The tumors often surround themselves with a wall-like thick barrier of tissue around them. This prevents many drugs from reaching all of the cancer cells inside the tumor.
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The nervous system’s surprising role
Previous research has shown that the nervous system—our body’s network of nerves—helps cancer spread once a tumor is established. The nervous system’s role in the earliest disease stages remains unclear.
A crucial part of this system is the sympathetic nervous system. You might have heard of the “fight or flight” response—eyes dilating to let more light in, heart beating faster, muscles tensing up. This is the sympathetic nervous system preparing the body for action, stress, or danger.
The sympathetic nervous system works by creating a shortcut for messages, so that they don’t have to cross the brain and can instead be instantaneous. To create this shortcut, a specific chemical called norepinephrine (exactly the same as adrenaline!) is used.
Researchers already know that cancers use these nerve systems to increase growth and harbor treatment resistance. But what role does the nerve system play in the initial stages of tumor growths?
A new discovery: nerve signals help cancer start
The scientists in a recent study from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory found that the nervous system plays an active part in the beginning stages of developing pancreatic cancer, before tumors even form.
Scientist Jérémy Nigri and his colleagues found pancreatic tumor-promoting fibroblasts (support cells), called myCAFS. The fibroblasts send out signals to attract nerve fibers, encouraging them to grow toward developing tumors. These myCAFs act as little messengers to bring nerve fibers closer to tumors, helping pancreatic cancers develop before the tumor is fully formed.
While this discovery may sound alarming, it represents an incredibly important step forward.
By understanding how these fibroblasts and nerve cells interact, scientists can design tests around these myCAFs. The result is that we can detect cancer even earlier, before it grows and matures into a tumor.
This could also lead to more targeted treatments that disrupt myCAFs nerve signaling, which could slow tumor development, meaning reduced need for intense and invasive treatments.
This study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Discovery.
Reference
Nigri, J., Lan, W., Fung, M. L., … Tuveson, D. A. (2026). Myofibroblasts induce neuroplasticity to promote pancreatic inflammation and cancer progression. Cancer Discovery, XX, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-25-1337
About the Author
Saminder Marwa is a Biology BSc student studying at Queen Mary, University of London. She is fascinated by how science can reshape healthcare—from drug development and designing smarter, safer medicines, to cancer research. Her work explores how innovation in biology and technology can make medicine more precise, effective, and kind to the body. Follow her on LinkedIn.
