Table 2 Cancer-nervous system related pathways

Acetylcholine

CHRM1

EGFR/MAPK/PI3K/AKT [100]

Inhibits cancer progression, reduces inflammation

CHRM1 (in stroma) [54]

Unspecified

Promotes prostate tumor growth and metastasis

CHRM3

EGFR transactivation [101]

Promotes gastric cancer proliferation

NGF induction, cholinergic neuron growth [102]

Establishes tumor-nerve feedback loop

CHRM4

AKT [54]

Induces neuroendocrine differentiation and invasion

CHRNA5

Ca²⁺/CaMKII/GSK-3β/β-catenin [43]

Enhances β-catenin, BDNF expression, metastasis, drug resistance

Catecholamines

ADRB2

ETV1/c-KIT/MAPK [106,107,108]

Promotes tumorigenesis in GIST

AKT/p53 [110]

Inhibits apoptosis, supports survival

AKT/Beclin1/VPS34/HIF-1α [112]

Impairs autophagy, enhances resistance to stress

ADRB3

Epac/JNK/BDNF [26, 121]

Promotes neuronal recruitment and tumor progression

Epac/JNK/mTOR [113]

Stimulates ribosome biogenesis, cell cycle entry

NGF

TrkA

MAPK/ERK [122]

Promotes tumor progression

EphA2/SRC [57]

Promotes tumor progression

HIF-1α [123]

Promote tumor new angiogenesis, promote tumor growth

BDNF

TrkB

ERK/MAPK [124, 125]

Promote cell proliferation, inhibit cell apoptosis and stimulate angiogenesis

PI3K/AKT/mTOR [126, 127]

Regulates cell proliferation, growth, size, metabolism, and movement

PLC-γ/DAG [128]

Increase the survival rate of tumor cells and promote invasion

Jak/STAT [129, 130]

Increase the survival rate of tumor cells and promote invasion

p75 NTR

NF-κB/MMP9 [131]

Promote tumor cell survival and metastasis

AKT/ERK [132]

Promote tumor cell survival and metastasis

Glutamate

NMDAR

FMRP/HSF1 [119, 120, 133]

Promotes invasion and metastasis via translational regulation of stress response proteins

CaMKII/MAPK/CREB, METTL3/m6A/HK2 [117, 118]

Enhances glycolysis, supports perineural invasion

AMPAR

MAPK [134, 135]

Promotes invasion and migration in pancreatic cancer

K-Ras/p38, K-Ras/p44/42[120]

Increases aggressiveness of precancerous lesions