title: Schwann cells: a new player in the tumor microenvironment.
abstract: Cancerous cells must cooperate with the surrounding stroma and non-malignant cells within the microenvironment to support the growth and invasion of the tumor. The nervous system is a component of every organ system of the body, and therefore, is invariably at the front line of the tumor invasion. Due to the complexity of the nervous system physiology, this review separately discusses the contributions of the central and peripheral nervous systems to the tumorigenesis and tumor progression. We further focus the discussion on the evidence that Schwann cells aid in tumor growth and invasion. Schwann cells, a largely unexplored element of the tumor microenvironment, may participate in the creation of tumor-favorable conditions through both bi-directional interaction with cancer cells and the facilitation of the immune-suppressive microenvironment through the mechanism of neural repair and immunomodulation.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Dermatology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, E1157 Biomedical Science Tower, 200 Lothrop St., Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA. bunimovichyl@upmc.edu.
authors.forename: Yuri L
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7920-8781
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Bunimovich
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Anton A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Keskinov
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Galina V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Shurin
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.|Departments of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Shurin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D063646:Carcinogenesis; D002450:Cell Communication; D048708:Cell Growth Processes; D002490:Central Nervous System; D006801:Humans; D056747:Immunomodulation; D017933:Peripheral Nervous System; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment
keywords: Nervous system; Neuroinflammation; Regulatory myeloid suppressor cells; Schwann cell; Tumor microenvironment