# Lung tumors hijack nerves to starve the body > Introduction: a quarter of cancer deaths, a cause long misunderstood - Author: Maxime Marquette - Publisher: MadMax (https://mad-max.co) - Section: Analysis - Published: 2026-07-04 - Canonical URL: https://mad-max.co/en/article/les-tumeurs-pulmonaires-detournent-les-nerfs-pour-affamer-le-corps ## Introduction: a quarter of cancer deaths, a cause long misunderstood ### A quiet but devastating syndrome **Cachexia** affects roughly **half** of cancer patients and is believed to account for a **quarter of all deaths** linked to the disease, according to the **Cleveland Clinic**. This syndrome causes severe loss of **muscle** and **fat**, reduces quality of life, and sometimes even limits the treatment options available to patients. A study published on **July 2, 2026** in the journal **Science**, led by researcher **Thales Papagiannakopoulos**, at the time at the **NYU Grossman School of Medicine** and now an incoming professor at the **Salk Institute**, reveals an **unsuspected mechanism** behind this phenomenon: certain **lung tumors** communicate directly with the **brain** to trigger this **muscle wasting**, a finding that overturns decades of assumptions built almost entirely on general nutritional theories of cancer decline. ### Why this discovery changes things Until now, cachexia was mostly understood as a **general metabolic consequence** of cancer. This new research instead demonstrates a **direct dialogue** between certain tumors and the **peripheral nervous system**, opening the door to **targeted treatments** far more precise than the general nutritional approaches used until now, and forcing clinicians to reconsider how they explain sudden, unexplained weight loss to worried families. *I am breaking down here a discovery that deserves more public attention than the usual debates over miracle cancer treatments. Understanding why the body destroys itself is sometimes just as important as understanding how to fight the tumor itself.* ## Claim 1: tumors communicate directly with the brain ### An unprecedented signaling mechanism According to the study published in **Science**, certain lung tumors use a lipid signaling molecule called **prostaglandin E2**, or **PGE2**, to communicate with **sensory neurons** located directly in the lung, which then relay this signal to the brain. This **specific subtype** of lung cancer produces markedly higher levels of **PGE2** than other tumor subtypes, which would explain why some patients develop **severe cachexia** while others, with comparably sized tumors, do not, a variability that has long puzzled oncologists trying to predict which patients will decline the fastest. ### Verdict: confirmed by several converging experiments Researchers showed that blocking **half** of the **sensory connections** between the lungs and the brain, or completely disabling the **lung nerves** involved, significantly reduced cachexia symptoms in animal models, confirming the **causal role** of this neural pathway. *The exact wording used by the lead researcher is striking: tumors control human behavior by hijacking local sensory neurons. This is no longer just biology, it is almost science fiction turned experimental reality.* ## Claim 2: diet directly influences the process ### The unexpected role of fat and omega-3s The study shows that mice fed a diet high in **fat** developed more severe cachexia, while switching to a diet containing only **omega-3 fatty acids** limited the body's ability to produce **PGE2**, thereby preventing tumors from using this molecule to communicate with the nervous system. When mice were **genetically modified** to no longer produce **PGE2**, cachexia simply did not develop, a result that confirms the **central role** of this specific molecule in the entire mechanism observed. ### Verdict: confirmed, with concrete nutritional implications Smaller-scale trials also showed that administering **aspirin** and **ibuprofen**, two common anti-inflammatory drugs that reduce prostaglandin production, also prevented the development of cachexia in the mice tested. *Drugs as common as aspirin and ibuprofen playing a role in this mechanism deserves to be highlighted with caution: we are talking about laboratory mice here, not yet human patients, and self-medicating on this basis alone would be a mistake.* ## Claim 3: this syndrome affects a massive number of patients worldwide ### A scale underestimated by the general public A German study from **2015**, cited as a reference in the current work, already estimated that cachexia affected roughly **nine million people** worldwide, a figure that illustrates the scale of a syndrome that remains largely unknown to the general public compared to other cancer complications. This scale is partly explained by the fact that cachexia is not limited to lung cancer: it accompanies many serious **chronic diseases**, although the **neural mechanism** discovered here appears particularly relevant to certain **specific subtypes** of lung tumors. ### Verdict: confirmed, a global public health issue The figure of a **quarter of cancer deaths** attributable to cachexia, put forward by the **Cleveland Clinic**, places this syndrome among the most significant **causes of mortality** in oncology, amply justifying the newly focused **scientific attention** on its precise mechanisms. *Nine million people affected worldwide, and yet, before this study, we barely understood why some patients wasted away faster than others. This is exactly the kind of scientific blind spot that deserves to be closed as a priority.* ## Claim 4: blocking this mechanism could become a treatment ### A therapeutic avenue still to be validated in humans Researchers suggest this discovery could pave the way for new treatments specifically targeting the **PGE2 signaling pathway** or the **sensory neurons** involved, rather than being limited to the general nutritional approaches currently used to manage cachexia in cancer patients. Lead researcher **Thales Papagiannakopoulos** says he wants to precisely identify which **neurons** and which **brain circuits** are involved, before exploring whether these same circuits also play a role in other symptoms frequently reported by cancer patients, such as **depression** or **memory loss**. ### Verdict: promising but still at the preclinical stage All of these findings currently come from **animal models**, and no human clinical trial has yet been conducted to validate the efficacy or safety of an intervention targeting this specific neural pathway in lung cancer patients. *I resist here any temptation to announce an imminent miracle treatment. The road between a laboratory mouse and a drug approved for human patients is still long, often strewn with failures, and that must be honestly respected.* ## Claim 5: this research mobilized a broad scientific network ### A collaboration between several leading institutions The study was conducted with the participation of researchers from the **NYU Grossman School of Medicine**, the **Salk Institute**, **Harvard**, **Rutgers University**, **Princeton**, **Cold Spring Harbor**, and several other leading **American institutions**, with financial support from the **National Institutes of Health**, underscoring how much coordinated public investment was required to trace a single molecular signal across so many disciplines. This collaborative scale reflects the complexity of the subject studied, which combines expertise in **oncology**, **neuroscience**, and **metabolism**, three fields that rarely communicate this closely in traditional cancer research. ### Verdict: a serious and transparent scientific effort Publication in a journal as rigorously peer-reviewed as **Science**, with complete methodological data and clearly documented institutional funding, lends solid credibility to this study's conclusions, despite its still-preclinical limitations. *Publicly funded research, published in a top-tier journal, and conducted by a network of recognized institutions: this is exactly the kind of rigor that deserves public trust, without justifying premature excitement.* ## Claim 6: other cancer symptoms may share this neural origin ### A lead toward depression and memory loss in patients Beyond **cachexia** alone, researchers are now wondering whether the same **neural circuits** hijacked by lung tumors might also be involved in other symptoms frequently reported by cancer patients, notably **depression** and **memory disorders**. Postdoctoral researcher **Stefan Kotschi**, a co-author of the study, notes that precisely identifying these **neurons** and their brain connections could open a much broader window into how a tumor affects the entire body, far beyond weight loss alone. ### Verdict: a serious hypothesis, still to be confirmed This potential extension of the discovery remains, at this stage, a **hypothesis for future research** rather than an established result, but it illustrates the scale of the possible consequences of a better understanding of the dialogue between tumors and the **nervous system**. *If this lead is confirmed, we might one day treat the psychological distress of some cancer patients not only through psychological support, but by directly targeting the biological signal that causes it. That is a prospect worth watching closely.* ## What this discovery does not yet allow us to claim ### Limits that must absolutely be respected This study does not demonstrate that all **lung cancers** cause cachexia through this same precise mechanism, nor that the results obtained in mice will automatically transfer, without adaptation, to **human patients**, an essential caution in **preclinical research**. Nor does it allow us to claim that a simple dietary change, such as adopting an **omega-3**-rich diet, would by itself be enough to treat cachexia in patients already affected, without specialized and individualized medical guidance. ### Necessary caution against media enthusiasm It would be irresponsible to present this discovery as an immediately available treatment, when the researchers themselves stress the need for further research to precisely identify the exact neural circuits involved in humans. This scientific honesty, far from diminishing the value of the discovery, is instead the best guarantee of long-term credibility for patients who hope to one day benefit from treatments derived from this work. *I always prefer measured hope to hollow promises. This discovery is real and important, but it cures no one today, and saying so clearly is an act of respect toward patients and their families.* ## Conclusion: an advance that redefines our understanding of cancer ### A new bridge between neuroscience and oncology This discovery illustrates just how porous the boundary between **neuroscience** and **oncology** is becoming, opening **research prospects** that would have seemed improbable just a decade ago in treating the most aggressive **lung cancers**. ### Measured hope for the future of patients If the next stages of research confirm the possibility of therapeutically targeting this **signaling pathway** in humans, **millions of patients** worldwide could one day benefit from treatments capable of preserving their **muscle mass** during their fight against cancer, a real hope that still needs to be clinically confirmed in the years ahead. *I will end on a note of deliberate scientific humility: this discovery saves no one today, but it redraws the map of what may be possible tomorrow for millions of patients. And that, in itself, is already a reason to hope without getting carried away.* **By Maxime Marquette, columnist** ## Columnist's transparency note ### Editorial stance I am not a journalist but a **columnist and analyst**. My expertise lies in observing and analysing the geopolitical, economic and strategic dynamics that shape our world. My work is to take political strategies apart, to understand global economic movements, to put the decisions of international actors in context and to offer analytical perspectives on the changes that are redefining our societies. I do not claim the cold objectivity of traditional journalism, which stops at reporting facts. **I claim analytical clarity**, rigorous interpretation and a deep understanding of the complex issues that concern us all. My role is to give meaning to the facts, to place them in their historical and strategic context, and to offer a critical reading of events. ### Method and sources This text keeps the basic distinction between **verified facts and interpretive analysis**. The rule never changes: a factual claim is published only when a verifiable source supports it, and the sources this article actually used are listed under **Sources**, never here. **Primary source families** used by the publication, when the story has them: official statements from governments and international institutions, public statements by political leaders, reports from intergovernmental organisations, dispatches from recognised international news agencies. **Secondary source families**: specialised publications, internationally recognised news media, analyses from established research institutions, reports from industry organisations. When an article cites statistical, economic or geopolitical data, it comes from the institutions that produce it (intergovernmental organisations, central banks, national statistics offices), and the exact institution is named under **Sources**. ### Nature of the analysis The analyses, interpretations and perspectives in the analytical sections of this article are a **critical, contextual synthesis** based on the information available, the trends observed and the expert comments cited in the sources consulted. My role is to interpret these facts, to set them in the context of today's geopolitical and economic dynamics, and to give them a coherent meaning within the larger story of the changes shaping our time. These analyses reflect expertise built through continuous observation of international affairs and an understanding of the strategic mechanisms that drive global actors. This article describes a documented state of affairs on its publication date, not a prediction: later developments may shift its outlook. No update is promised in advance; when an article is corrected or completed, the change is dated in the text. ## Sources ### Primary sources - [Salk Institute — Are lung cancer tumors hijacking the nervous system? — July 2, 2026](https://www.salk.edu/news-release/are-lung-cancer-tumors-hijacking-the-nervous-system/) - [Science — A dietary switch promotes sensory-neuron dependent cancer-associated cachexia — July 2, 2026](https://www.science.org) ### Secondary sources - [Cleveland Clinic — Cachexia, causes and prevalence in cancer](https://my.clevelandclinic.org) - [ecancer — Researchers find way to treat lung cancer and associated muscle wasting at the same time — July 2026](https://ecancer.org/en/news/28006-researchers-find-way-to-treat-lung-cancer-and-associated-muscle-wasting-at-the-same-time) - [PMC — Oncology Letters, review on cancer cachexia](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12994458/) - [Nature — tumor-nervous system signaling in cancer](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-025-02483-6) --- Source: Maxime Marquette, MadMax. 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