We know that stress is unhealthy, but does it have any impact on cancer?
A new study in The Journal of Clinical Investigation looked at the effect that chronic stress had on ovarian cancer patients.
Anil Sood, MD and his colleagues at the University of Texas implanted ovarian cancer cells into mice and then exposed them to stress. The result – their tumors grew more quickly.
How?
Anoikis is the term used to describe cells that detach from their environment in a type of programmed cell death.
This is important because if cancer cells don’t die after they split off, they can begin the process of metastasis.
What Sood found was that stress hormones activated a protein called FAK (Focal Adhesion Kinase), the very protein which protects cancer cells from the process of anoikis or natural cell death, thus allowing them to spread and grow.
After finding that tumor cells in mice with ovarian cancer grew more quickly when the mice were exposed to stress, Sood and his colleagues then looked to see if the same held true with humans.
Looking at 80 cases of patients with ovarian cancer, they used the NIH’s Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale to group patients by stress levels.
They found patient stress, along with elevated stress hormones was associated with higher levels of activated FAK, quicker tumor growth, and faster mortality.
This study adds to the growing wealth of information concerning the long term effects of stress and trauma on the body.
And yet, there are so many new ways to help treat trauma.
In an effort to spread the word about these new trauma techniques, we’ve created a new series, Rethinking Trauma.
Meanwhile, leave a comment below and let us know what you think.
And speaking of cancer and stress, what about the trauma-inducing effect of hearing that you or a loved-one has a diagnosis of cancer? But that’s for another time.
One’s immune system can go into shock like other parts of the mind and body can, I guess. If excessive calories can overwhelm the immune system and make this system function poorly, and certain medications can slow down the immune system, then stress and trauma do too. Think of the word, “disease” dis (meaning “against”) + ease! The immune system sends out the natural killer cells to give cancer cells the “kiss of death”. The language of chemical communications between cells could be met with interference, or the immune system gets too busy with an internal catastrophic event (that’s why sleep and rest are so important) and the confusion of being overwhelmed creates the first “dance” to a new “song” for help,(the cells of the immune system can enclose a pathogen and interprete as many as a trillion chemical identifiers of the strange pathogens and reate an antibody!), etc.Google the foods that make your immune system function optimately, and find foods that help heal disease-specific personal issues to work in conjunction with the dis ease.
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Have only had the opportunity to look at the clips and keen to watch the rest of the DVD as this looks fatinsatc, makes the world of both the Mental Capacity Act and caring for those who are unable to fully say how they wish to be cared for much more real which is so important. Sadly too often those with a diagnosis’ are treated in a way that doesn’t recognise who they are but what their label’ states and so it’s fatinsatc to see some work being done in this area.
I’m a therapist living and dealing with lung cancer, for ten years. In my journey I’ve been discovering that releasing unresolved trauma is a contributer of stress management in my life. Meditation and cutting edge approaches to trauma are helping me to understand myself with compassion which is a balm of goodness that I add to the integration of other contributers to the quality of life I am bless to enjoy. Thank you for bringing forth such material in such proportions.
I listened to all three interviews and the info is phenomenal. Thanks to all for your hard work and sharing the results with us.
There has been a Quantum Leap in the area of Stress and Cancer which I have studied and in which I eventually became certified as an Integrative Health Coach. Dr. R.G. Hamer developed a system which he used on over 40,000 patients that tells us the specific stressful event that is linked to a certain cancer. This is amazing work and has been proven but, of course, not accepted by the medical profession. I have given presentations on German New Medicine and have some articles about it on my website. The website to learn more about GNM is learngnm.com. I have now switched to Meta-Medicine which is GNM with the healing aspect of Energy Psychology. I would love to teach the course for this group but have no idea as to how to contact Ruth Buczynski. As far as Ovarian cancer, it is caused by a profound loss trauma/shock. If the patient is going to undergo chemo, there is additional stress, one reason why chemo doesn’t work. Also, it will then be diagnosed in the liver as there is a fear of starvation or in the lungs denoting a fear of death because of the way the diagnosis is given. Each of these is a different trauma/shock and not a spreading of the cancer. Read the articles and/or contact me for further information. The MindBody connection is the way to begin the healing. Resolution of the conflict shock is essential.
Carole Seaver
Thank you so much for sharing this information. It’s invaluable!
Many thanks!
To begin, I’d like to say that I listened to the first in your series with Bill O’Hanlon yesterday and am very impressed and appreciative of your endeavor to share these ideas. I’m looking forward to the rest.
I think regards cancer and stress, it is important to try to distinguish between (or at least take into account that there are) different kinds of cancers and different kinds of stresses and that these have varying impacts on different people.
Just as Bill said, not everyone who experiences trauma develops debilitating symptoms – for some it can be a challenge to breakthrough to another level of being. Being supported in that is certainly a great help though.
It would be good if the recognition of a possible (perhaps likely) stress link in certain cancer cases were absolutely and initially recognized. That would mean giving it an important place in any treatment, especially since treatments are often highly stressful.
But people would have to accept this, and be willing and able to work with it. Many are afraid of tapping into the deeper causes of their emotional/ personal pain. Which is why we need the kinds of tools and skills you are profiling in your series.
Recognizing that, since stress can lead to such serious outcomes, working with it as a preventive of those potential (extremely costly) outcomes deserves high priority. To acheive that, the methods available need to be shared as you are sharing them.
Developing the skills to do this, and valuing a support system that counters stress, before we find ourselves in traumatic circumstances is easier when you are not under pressure. This effectively makes these things a general and valuable life skill.
My personal interest is in the potential of providing, through retreat settings, experiences of such stress-reducing tools – from the simplest ones of time alone in safe settings to the more elaborate treatment modalities you are presenting. Thank you!
You know what, I’m very much inlniced to agree.