The paper discusses cancer neuroscience, an emerging field exploring the interplay between neurons and cancer cells. It highlights how neurons can support cancer initiation, growth, migration, and even therapy resistance. A significant discovery, detailed by Hoover et al., reveals that neurons transfer mitochondria to cancer cells, a process that was previously thought to occur in the opposite direction. This mitochondrial transfer metabolically reprograms cancer cells, boosting their energy production, enhancing their "stemness" or self-renewal capabilities, and crucially, increasing their ability to spread throughout the body, making this interaction a potential target for future cancer treatments.

References:

• Hoover G, Gilbert S, Curley O, et al. Nerve-to-cancer transfer of mitochondria during cancer metastasis[J]. Nature, 2025: 1-11.