Increased cancer incidence in "cold" countries: An (un)sympathetic connection?
Cancer
Cold
Norepinephrine
Sympathetic nervous system
Journal
Journal of thermal biology
ISSN: 0306-4565
Titre abrégé: J Therm Biol
Pays: England
ID NLM: 7600115
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Apr 2020
Apr 2020
Historique:
received:
15
11
2019
revised:
12
02
2020
accepted:
12
02
2020
entrez:
5
5
2020
pubmed:
5
5
2020
medline:
4
2
2021
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Published data has shown that there is an unexpected, significantly increased cancer mortality and incidence in countries with low or subnormal environmental temperatures. There have been several hypotheses developed to elucidate the mechanisms behind these findings. It is well documented that cold represents a very efficient stressor that activates sympathetic nerves and increases tissue and plasma norepinephrine levels. Importantly, recently accumulated data indicate that norepinephrine can stimulate carcinogenesis and the progression of cancer. Therefore, we suggest that the effect of a cold environment on cancer incidence and mortality might be mediated, at least partially, by norepinephrine released from sympathetic nerves in response to cold. Data supporting this hypothesis are discussed here and potential preventive approaches are described.
Identifiants
pubmed: 32364983
pii: S0306-4565(19)30637-0
doi: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102538
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Review
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
102538Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
Declaration of competing interest We declare no conflicts of interest associated with the contents of this manuscript.