Lee TL, Chiu PH, Li WY, et al. - Since perineural invasion (PNI) is a poor prognostic pathologic feature of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), researchers determined the ability of human peripheral nerves to enhance OSCC migration/invasion. In addition, retrospective cohort study was performed in one medical centre from 2001 to 2009. Participants in the study were 314 T1-2 OSCC patients. Compared with subcutaneous soft tissue, the transwell migration/invasion assay showed that human peripheral nerves significantly enhanced the migration/invasion abilities of OSCC. In addition, the enhanced migration was dose-dependent with increased length or number of segments of the peripheral nerve. The model of nerve implantation demonstrated that human peripheral nerve also enhanced OSCC growth in vivo. Eventually, increased PNI focus number was found dose-dependently linked to increased cervical lymph node metastasis and reduced 5-year disease-specific survival rates. Such findings indicated clearly the existence of nerve-tumor interaction involving paracrine factors contributing to OSCC aggressiveness. For future therapeutic targeting of PNI in OSCC, further investigations are needed to explore key cell types and molecules involved in nerve-tumour interactions.