The achievement of malignant traits in several cancers is associated with tumor microenvironment reactivity. New evidence show that the stress hormone noradrenaline enhances melanoma microenvironment reactivity, mainly acting through β3-adrenoreceptors (β2-ARs), favoring recruitment of cancer-associated fibroblasts, M2-macrophages, bone marrow-derived precursors, These events concur in sustaining a pro-inflammatory and pro-angiogenic milieu, finally boosting melanoma malignancy.
Keywords: beta-adrenoreceptors; cancer associated fibroblasts; inflammation; mesenchymal stem cells; stress; tumor microenvironment.