Louise Howard

When Brian Wolpin, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Hale Family Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, advanced to the next slide during the plenary session at the 2026 ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) Annual Meeting in Chicago, May 29 to June 2, 2026, the audience of oncology professionals fell silent.

The role of sensory systems in human health has long been established within biological and neuroscientific research. Olfactory, auditory, and tactile pathways are deeply integrated into the body’s regulatory networks, influencing emotional processing, cognitive function, and physiological balance. Despite this well-documented connection, the clinical application of sensory-based therapeutics has historically remained underutilized. That gap is now beginning to close.

In silence, the brain regenerates, growing new neurons in the hippocampus which is the cerebral center of memory, spatial navigation and emotional regulation (Kriste, Nicola, Kronenberg, Walker, Liu, & Kempermann, 2015).