Title:The Neurotensinergic System: A Target for Cancer Treatment
Volume: 29
Issue: 18
Author(s): Manuel Lisardo Sánchez*Rafael Coveñas
Affiliation:
- University of Salamanca, Institute of Neuroscience of Castilla and León (INCYL), Laboratory of Neuroanatomy
of the Peptidergic Systems (Lab. 14), c/ Pintor Fernando Gallego, 1, 37007-Salamanca, Spain
Keywords:
Neurotensin, neurotensin receptor antagonists, tumor, lung, breast, prostate, gastrointestinal, liver, signaling pathways.
Abstract:
Background: The scientific interest regarding the involvement of peptides in
cancer has increased in the last few years. In tumor cells, the overexpression of peptides
and their receptors is known, and new therapeutic targets for the treatment of cancer have
been suggested. The overexpression of the neurotensinergic system has been associated
with poor prognosis, tumor size, higher tumor aggressiveness, increased relapse risk, and
worse sensitivity to chemotherapy agents.
Objective: The aim of this review is to update the findings regarding the involvement of
the neurotensinergic system in cancer to suggest anticancer therapeutic strategies targeting
this system. The neurotensin (NT) precursor, NT and its receptors (NTR), and the involvement
of the neurotensinergic system in lung, breast, prostate, gastric, colon, liver,
and pancreatic cancers, glioblastoma, neuroendocrine tumors, and B-cell leukemia will be
mentioned and discussed as well as the signaling pathways mediated by NT. Some research
lines to be developed in the future will be suggested, such as molecules regulating
the expression of the NT precursor, the influence of the diet in the development of tumors,
molecules and signaling pathways activated by NT, and antitumor therapeutic strategies
targeting the neurotensinergic system.
Conclusion: NT, via the NTR, exerts oncogenic (tumor cell proliferation, invasion, migration,
angiogenesis) and antiapoptotic effects, whereas NTR antagonists inhibit these
effects. NTR expression can be used as a diagnostic tool/therapeutic target, and the administration
of NTR antagonists as antitumor drugs could be a therapeutic strategy to treat
tumors overexpressing NTR.