Cancer Neuroscience

Dr. Amit  is dedicated to key areas of cancer research that will develop therapeutic approaches to improve patients’ survival, treatment responses, and quality of life. During his residency training, Dr. Amit became interested in the biology of cancer. After completing his residency, he undertook further training in Head and Neck Surgical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he completed a clinical fellowship as a head and neck surgical oncologist and a postdoctoral fellowship with a focus on the neurobiology of cancer. Dr. Amit has an active research laboratory focusing on cancer-related neurogenesis and axonogenesis and on the role of neuro-immunology in cancer. One exciting finding of Dr. Amit’s lab involved describing a mechanism by which head and neck tumors can reprogram adrenergic signaling in neurons and the effect of targeting the peripheral nervous system on cancer initiation and progression. This will serve as a basis for combining treatments targeting the nervous system with other therapies, such as immunotherapy, in the treatment of head and neck cancers. Dr. Amit is continuing his work by building a team to study how the neural microenvironment affects responses to chemotherapy and immunotherapy in patients with non-melanoma skin cancer and other cancers, and to develop novel strategies to combat resistance to these therapies. Dr. Scheff is Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator in the Center for Neuroscience at the Hillman Cancer Center Research Pavillion at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Her research is focused on the neurobiology of head and neck cancer and orofacial pain.

Introduction Neuronal influence on cancer initiation and growth Paracrine signaling in CNS primary tumors and brain metastases Paracrine signaling in PNS primary tumors Neuronal influence on cancer invasion and metastasis including perineurial invasion Neurotrophic activity of tumors Cancer interactions with Schwann cells Cancer-glial interactions Neuron-cancer synaptic and other electrical signaling Neuro-immune interactions system and immuno-oncology Nervous system interactions with non-immune elements in the cancer microenvironment Cancer-induced remodeling of the nervous system Cancer and pain Systemic interactions of cancer and the impact on the nervous system Tools and model systems to study nerve-cancer interactions Conclusions and Future Directions