(HealthDay News) -- Prostate cancer can promote the growth of new nerves that are associated with more aggressive tumors, U.S. researchers report.
It's been shown that prostate cancer follows the growth of nerves, but this is the first study to find that prostate tumors actually promote nerve growth, says a team at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston. The new finding is comparable to the discovery that tumors promote the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) to nourish themselves, the team said.
"This is the first report of this phenomenon. It represents an important new target in prostate cancer treatment, as prostate cancers are more aggressive when neurogenesis is present," study first author Dr. Gustavo Ayala, a professor of pathology and urology, said in a college news release. Read more...
