Chronic stress favors the spread of cancer cells in the organism

Tests on mice show that stress has a strong effect on the spread of cancer
For a long time we have known that stress is not conducive to our health. That's why doctors advise us to avoid stress as much as possible. But this is not always possible, some people just have a lot of stress at work or in their family life. Scientists are even warning that chronic stress could help cancer spread faster in our bodies.

Permanent stress is not good for body and mind. Unfortunately, in today's society, stress is hard to avoid for most people. Such chronic stress can cause serious negative consequences for our health. Australian researchers found in one study that chronic stress helps even cancer spread faster in the human body. The scientists from Monash University published the results of their study in the journal "Nature Communications".

Stress promotes the spread of cancer cells in the body. (Image: Kurhan / fotolia.com)

Chronic permanent stress changes the lymphatic system
When mice were exposed to chronic prolonged stress, their lymphatic system changed. This makes it easier for the cancer to spread in the body of the person concerned. Although the study has not yet been replicated in humans, it is still a big step towards better understanding how stress and the development of cancer are linked, the doctors say. The researchers have already developed a drug that helps stop this process. This is currently being tested on women with breast cancer.

Tumors can spread better and grow faster
No one can expect that cancer patients will not be stressed, such a condition is probably one of the most stressful moments in a patient's life Erica Sloan from Monash University. The additional stress also has a negative effect on the course of the disease. Stress not only affects our overall wellbeing, chronic stress also has a direct impact on our body and can cause tumors to spread better and grow faster, the researchers explain. There are two ways cancer spreads throughout the body. Through the blood vessels or through the lymphatic system, the experts explain. This network pulls fluid out of our tissue and allows it to flow back into the human bloodstream. We already knew that stress hormones increase blood vessel formation, creating more potential escape routes for cancer cells, the researchers say. However, until now it was not clear if stress hormones could also affect the lymphatic system.

Stress hormones alter human lymphatic vessels
In order to find out what effects stress has on the spread of cancer, the scientists have carried out a test on mice. These mice were put under extreme stress. This was comparable to chronic, chronic stress, which can arise, for example, in our work, explain the physicians. The researchers found that cancer is more prevalent in stressed mice. The reason for this is that the stress hormone epinephrine activates the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). This process affects the rate of lymphogenesis, researchers say. So the stress hormone actually physically changes the lymphatic vessels. These drain the tumors, so the cancer cells can spread faster to other parts of the body. Thus, not only new ways in which the tumors can spread, also the speed of the spread increases, says Dr. med. Sloan.

Beta blocker propranolol could slow the spread of cancer
But there is good news too, the researchers were able to use a beta-blocker (propranolol) to stop this process. And since propranolol has been used for years around the world, the researchers studied older studies on humans. They were looking for evidence that beta-blockers had unknowingly slowed the spread of cancer. After evaluating data from nearly 1,000 breast cancer patients in Italy, they found some pretty convincing results. When patients used beta-blockers, there were significantly fewer signs of tumor cell movement in the lymph nodes, the experts explained. Thus, the tumor cells could not spread so quickly to the lungs and other organs.

New study on humans should bring clarity
This supports the results that we have made in the experiments with the test mice, says Dr. med. Sloan. Researchers will now conduct a pilot study in Melbourne. There, a group of breast cancer patients will be treated with the beta-blocker propranolol. The physicians hope that this treatment can also be used successfully in humans. That would be an easy and cheap way to reduce the risk of cancer spread, the physician adds.