Brain and Body

Chronic Stress Actually Speeds up the Spread of Cancer in the Body, Research Finds

March 8, 2016 | Kelly Tatera

Cancer cells
Photo credit: National Cancer Institute

But scientists may have discovered a solution.

According to new research published in the journal Nature Communications, stress makes it easier for cancer to spread throughout the body — and quicker too.

In a study with mice, researchers from Monash University in Australia observed that the mice who were exposed to chronic stress saw physical changes in their lymphatic systems, or the network of organs and tissues that helps the body get rid of toxins, waste, and other unwanted materials.

In turn, these physical changes made it quicker and easier for the cancer to spread throughout the bodies of the mice, according to the researchers.

SEE ALSO: Scientists Transformed Skin Cells into Stem Cells That Seek and Destroy Brain Cancer

Of course, a cancer diagnosis is certainly stressful, and scientists don’t expect cancer patients to be able to endure the experience stress-free. However, even though this study hasn’t yet been replicated in humans, it’s helping scientists understand the role of stress in cancer progression.

"Not for a minute are we suggesting that someone who's just been diagnosed with cancer should not be stressed, because that would have to be one of the most stressful situations," one of the researchers, Erica Sloan, told ABC News. "But rather how do we look after cancer patients, because this suggests that stress not only affects patient wellbeing but also gets into the body and affects how the tumour progresses."

Cancer spreads throughout the body via one of two ways — the blood vessels or through the lymphatic system. Before this study, scientists knew that blood vessel formation can be increased by stress hormones, but now they’ve gripped a better understanding of how stress influences the lymphatic system.

In the study, the researchers observed that the chronically-stressed mice had a higher rate of cancer spreading than their non-stressed peers, and this was apparent due to the stress hormone adrenaline activating the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) to increase the rate of lymph formation.

"Not only do you get new freeways out of the tumour but the speed limit is increased and so the tumour cells can flow out of the tumour much more rapidly," added Sloan.

However, there is a silver lining to the research — the scientists were able to use propranolol, a beta-blocker that’s already on the market, to help prevent the cancer from spreading.

First, the researchers looked back into previous human studies with propranolol to see if there may be any hint that beta-blockers could have been unknowingly slowing the spread of cancer.

"When tracked over about seven years, it turned out that those that had been taking beta-blockers also showed far less evidence of tumour cells moving into the lymph nodes and then disseminating to other organs like the lung, so it provides clinical support for what we see in the mice," Sloan told ABC.

Now, the researchers are conducting a pilot study using propranolol in a group of women with breast cancer in Melbourne. If the results are promising, we may be headed towards a cheap and widely-accessible new tool in the fight against cancer.  

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