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β-Adrenoceptors in Cancer: Old Players and New Perspectives

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  • First Online:
Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology

Part of the book series: Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology

Abstract

Distress, or negative stress, is known to considerably increase the incidence of several diseases, including cancer. There is indeed evidence from pre-clinical models that distress causes a catecholaminergic overdrive that, mainly through the activation of β-adrenoceptors (β-ARs), results in cancer cell growth and cancer progression. In addition, clinical studies have evidenced a role of negative stress in cancer progression. Moreover, plenty of data demonstrates that β-blockers have positive effects in reducing the pro-tumorigenic activity of catecholamines, correlating with better outcomes in some type of cancers as evidenced by several clinical trials. Among β-ARs, β2-AR seems to be the main β-AR subtype involved in tumor development and progression. However, there are data indicating that also β1-AR and β3-AR may be involved in certain tumors. In this chapter, we will review current knowledge on the role of the three β-AR isoforms in carcinogenesis as well as in cancer growth and progression, with particular emphasis on recent studies that are opening new avenues in the use of β-ARs as therapeutic targets in treating tumors.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Prof. Giovanni Casini for his critical reading of the manuscript. Over the past years, the studies in the MDM laboratory focusing on the role of β-ARs in cancer have been supported by Italian Ministry of Health (RF-2011-02351158), Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria Meyer, Fondazione Meyer, Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze and intramural funds at the University of Pisa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Rosario Amato, Martina Lucchesi, Silvia Marracci & Massimo Dal Monte

  2. Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Luca Filippi

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  1. Rosario Amato
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Correspondence to Massimo Dal Monte .

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Amato, R., Lucchesi, M., Marracci, S., Filippi, L., Dal Monte, M. (2023). β-Adrenoceptors in Cancer: Old Players and New Perspectives. In: Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/164_2023_701

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/164_2023_701

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