ArticleCancer discovery2022
Reprogrammed Schwann Cells Organize into Dynamic Tracks that Promote Pancreatic Cancer Invasion.
Article in Cancer discovery, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 92 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
92 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 145 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prognostic utility of perineural invasion in individuals with rectal cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy: a meta-analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Pooled it
- Review
- Neural-tumor interactions: bidirectional regulatory mechanisms and nervous system-targeted tumor therapeutic strategies.Biomarker research · 2026Review
- Decoding neuro-tumor interactions in pancreatic cancer: mechanisms, immunosuppressive networks and therapeutic opportunities.Molecular biomedicine · 2026Review
- The neural stem cell‑NSCLC axis: Molecular drivers, microenvironment crosstalk and emerging therapies (Review).International journal of oncology · 2026Review
- Cancer Neuroscience: From Local Neuro-Immune Microenvironments to Systemic Brain-Body Circuitry.MedComm · 2026Review
- Decoding osteosarcoma mechanobiology: PIEZO channels in tumor progression, immune remodeling, and pain.Cancer metastasis reviews · 2026Review
- KRAS/ACTN4/p65-NR2A axis mediates glutamine-glutamate metabolic coupling between schwann cells and pancreatic cancer promoting perineural invasion.Journal of advanced research · 2026Article
- Stromal Regulation of Tumor Perineural Invasion: A Multicellular and Neuro-Ecological Perspective.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- Article
- Prognostic value and potential upstream regulator of Schwann cells in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.Translational cancer research · 2026Article
- Neuro-immune interactions in gastrointestinal oncology: Mechanisms, challenges, and therapeutic potential.Innovation (Cambridge (Mass.)) · 2026Review
- Heterocellular crosstalk and architecture of the pancreatic tumour microenvironment.Nature reviews. Cancer · 2026Review
- Perineural invasion is a prognostic factor in cholangiocarcinoma, regardless of anatomical location: A systematic review and meta-analysis.JHEP reports : innovation in hepatology · 2026Article
- Neuro-tumor interactions in peripheral tumors.Cancer metastasis reviews · 2026Review
- LIS1 mediated Schwann cell reprogramming enhances perineural invasion by activating the serine/NMDAR/AKT signaling pathway in head and neck squamous carcinoma.Cancer cell international · 2026Article
- Targeting sensory nerves in the tumor microenvironment: a new vulnerability in cancer therapy.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2026Review
- Neuro-related gene signatures predict prognosis in diffuse large B-Cell lymphoma and uncover TRPV2-mediated tumor microenvironment regulation.Annals of hematology · 2026Article
- Remodeling the tumor dormancy ecosystem to prevent recurrence and metastasis.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Enteric neuro-immune-tumor ecosystem in pancreatic, colorectal, and gastric malignancies: context dependence and translational priorities.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
32 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
17 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Nerves are a component of the tumor microenvironment contributing to cancer progression, but the role of cells from nerves in facilitating cancer invasion remains poorly understood. Here we show that Schwann cells (SC) activated by cancer cells collectively function as tumor-activated Schwann cell tracks (TAST) that promote cancer cell migration and invasion. Nonmyelinating SCs form TASTs and have cell gene expression signatures that correlate with diminished survival in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. In TASTs, dynamic SCs form tracks that serve as cancer pathways and apply forces on cancer cells to enhance cancer motility. These SCs are activated by c-Jun, analogous to their reprogramming during nerve repair. This study reveals a mechanism of cancer cell invasion that co-opts a wound repair process and exploits the ability of SCs to collectively organize into tracks. These findings establish a novel paradigm of how cancer cells spread and reveal therapeutic opportunities. SIGNIFICANCE: How the tumor microenvironment participates in pancreatic cancer progression is not fully understood. Here, we show that SCs are activated by cancer cells and collectively organize into tracks that dynamically enable cancer invasion in a c-Jun-dependent manner. See related commentary by Amit and Maitra, p. 2240. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 2221.
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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.