ReviewJournal of oncology2018
The Role of the Vagus Nerve in Cancer Prognosis: A Systematic and a Comprehensive Review.
Review in Journal of oncology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 48 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Implementation of a Cardiac Coherence Program to Reduce Anxiety in Patients With Peritoneal Carcinosis Treated by Surgery: Randomized Pilot Study
Evaluating the Impact of a 12-month Multi-Modal Lifestyle Management Intervention on Disease Relevant Biomarkers Associated With Monoclonal Gammopathy of Unknown Significance (MGUS) and Smoldering Myeloma (SM): A Prospective Intervention Pilot Study
Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed.
- Chronic stress and cancer progression through neuro‑endocrine‑immune networks (Review).Oncology reports · 2026Review
- Article
- Cancer Neoaxonogenesis: Mechanisms and Factors Involved in the Recruitment of Peripheral Nerves by Cancer Tissue.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Colitis-associated gut-vagus-brain signaling integrates tumorigenesis and neuroinflammation: comparative regulation by vagotomy and atropine.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- Neuro-Immune Crosstalk: Molecular Mechanisms, Biological Functions, Diseases, and Therapeutic Targets.MedComm · 2026Review
- VibroIntegração BioMolecular: a structured multimodal protocol for autonomic regulation in community healthcare.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in breast cancer: a neuroimmune model to improve quality of life.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- [Research Progress on Interleukin-6 in Screening and Prognosis of Patients with Non-small Cell Lung Cancer].Zhongguo fei ai za zhi = Chinese journal of lung cancer · 2025Review
- The prognostic and protective roles of heart-rate variability in glioblastoma: making GBM less vague.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2025Article
- Mental distress and inflammation in bladder cancer: The nerve makes things less vague.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- A consultation model integrating psychoanalysis and psychophysiology in oncology.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- Cardiac Autonomic Modulation and Cognitive Performance in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Preliminary Study.Neurology international · 2025Article
- Prediction of perioperative complications in colorectal cancerWorld journal of gastrointestinal surgery · 2025Article
- Vagal Nerve Biofeedback Intervention for Improving Health Outcomes Among Ukrainian Forced Migrants: A Proof-of-Concept Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- A dyadic stress induction tool for experimental investigation of adult patients with cancer and their family caregivers.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2025Article
- Predicting lymphovascular space invasion in early-stage cervical squamous cell carcinoma using heart rate variability.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
- Association of Sympathovagal Imbalance with Increased Inflammation and Impaired Adaptive Immunity in Bladder Cancer Patients.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Cardiovascular Autonomic Dysfunction Before and After Chemotherapy in Cancer Patients.Journal of clinical neurology (Seoul, Korea) · 2024Review
- Vagus nerve signal has an inhibitory influence on the development of peritoneal metastasis in murine gastric cancer.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- The cancer-immune dialogue in the context of stress.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This article reviews the role of the vagus nerve in tumor modulation and cancer prognosis. We present a systematic review of 12 epidemiological studies examining the relationship between heart rate variability, the main vagus nerve index, and prognosis in cancer patients (survival and tumor markers). These studies show that initially high vagal nerve activity predicts better cancer prognosis, and, in some studies, independent of confounders such as cancer stage and treatments. Since the design of the epidemiological studies is correlational, any causal relationship between heart rate variability and cancer prognosis cannot be inferred. However, various semi-experimental cohort studies in humans and experimental studies in animals have examined this causal relationship. The second part of this paper presents a comprehensive review including human and animal cohort and experimental studies showing that vagotomy accelerates tumor growth, while vagal nerve activation improves cancer prognosis. Based on all reviewed studies, it is concluded that the evidence supports a protective role of the vagus nerve in cancer and specifically in the metastatic stage.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.