Response to the letter Re: Carvedilol blocks neural regulation of breast cancer progression in vivo and is associated with reduced breast cancer mortality in patients

Abstract

We thank De Sanctis et al. for their interest in the findings reported in ‘Carvedilol blocks neural regulation of breast cancer progression in vivo and is associated with reduced breast cancer mortality in patients’ [ [1] Gillis R.D. Botteri E. Chang A. Ziegler A.I. Chung N.C. Pon C.K. et al. Carvedilol blocks neural regulation of breast cancer progression in vivo and is associated with reduced breast cancer mortality in patients. Eur J Canc. 2021; 147: 106-116 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (9) Google Scholar ]. They raise the interesting suggestion that other conditions linked to elevated sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity, such as pain and migraine, may influence cancer progression. De Sanctis et al's. comments about migraine are especially interesting given that beta-blockers are commonly taken long term and as a prophylactic treatment to reduce the frequency of migraines. It must be remembered however that migraine-pain (being episodic, with long periods of normality between) is likely to give a very different pattern of SNS activation than a more chronic pain associated with, for example, arthritis. Carvedilol blocks neural regulation of breast cancer progression in vivo and is associated with reduced breast cancer mortality in patientsEuropean Journal of CancerVol. 147PreviewThe sympathetic nervous system drives breast cancer progression through β-adrenergic receptor signalling. This discovery has led to the consideration of cardiac β-blocker drugs as novel strategies for anticancer therapies. Carvedilol is a β-blocker used in the management of cardiovascular disorders, anxiety, migraine and chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity. However, little is known about how carvedilol affects cancer-related outcomes. Full-Text PDF Re: Carvedilol blocks neural regulation of breast cancer progression in vivo and is associated with reduced breast cancer mortality in patients: Sympathetic nervous system activity on breast cancer: the story of migraineEuropean Journal of CancerVol. 152PreviewWith great interest, we read the paper by Gillis et al. [1] on β-adrenergic receptor antagonists (or β-blockers) activity on breast cancer (BC). Starting from the available evidence of a favouring role of the sympathetic – rather than the parasympathetic – nervous system on BC progression, the authors studied carvedilol treatment in preclinical models of BC (both cell lines and mice), thus showing that the inhibition of the sympathetic nervous system activity corresponds to a slowing of cancer progression. Full-Text PDF