Cancer Neuroscience
A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 1044
Editor
2. Department of Pharmacology, Institute for Basic Health Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre 90035-003, Brazil
Interests: brain tumor; glioma; glioblastoma; neuroblastoma; medulloblastoma; growth factors; membrane receptors; epigenetics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Cancer neuroscience has emerged as a rapidly expanding field at the interface of oncology and neurobiology. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that nervous-system-derived mechanisms actively contribute to cancer initiation, progression, and therapeutic response. This field encompasses at least four interconnected dimensions. First, tumor cells hijack molecular and cellular programs that are fundamental to normal nervous system development and synaptic plasticity. Second, cancers establish functional communication with neurons through paracrine signaling and, in some contexts, through direct neuro-tumoral synaptic structures, allowing neuronal activity to modulate tumor proliferation, invasion, and treatment resistance. Third, tumors actively remodel their microenvironment by promoting de novo innervation, a process increasingly recognized not only in primary brain tumors but also in peripheral malignancies such as pancreatic cancers. Finally, cancer neuroscience also encompasses the impact of cancer therapies on the nervous system, as many antineoplastic agents—particularly chemotherapeutics—induce cognitive, behavioral, and neurobiological alterations that affect the patient’s quality of life and long-term outcomes. Together, these advances redefine cancer as a disease shaped by dynamic, bidirectional interactions with the nervous system. The convergence of neuroscience, cancer biology, imaging, and translational research has positioned cancer neuroscience as one of the most active and conceptually transformative areas in contemporary oncology.
This Special Issue aims to capture the breadth, mechanistic depth, and clinical implications of this burgeoning field, highlighting emerging concepts, experimental models, and therapeutic opportunities arising from neuro-tumor interactions.
Dr. Rafael Roesler
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- brain tumor
- glioma
- medulloblastoma
- glioma-neuron crosstalk
- cancer-neuron interaction
- neuro-tumoral synapse
- neurotransmitter signaling in cancer
- tumor innervation
- tumor microenvironment
- chemobrain
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