Relationship between stress and cancer

Although the word stress means the whole of the physical, mental, emotional and behavioral responses that a person gives when he feels his physical and spiritual limits under pressure, it is actually a physics term. It is the force or resistance within a substance. In evolutionary terms, stress is the fight-or-flight response mediated by stress hormones in the body when danger is perceived. From this point of view, stress should be detailed as acute and chronic stress. Because the way the organism copes with these two stresses is different, and when the stress lasts for a long time or occurs strongly, the system may respond with mental and physical diseases. At this point, it is important that the stress is controllable.

The causes of stress can be physical, social or psychological. It can occur as acute life events, or it can be chronically exposed. Since being diagnosed with cancer poses a threat to one’s life, it may appear as acute stress, or a person under chronic stress may be diagnosed with cancer. At this point, the question that comes to people’s minds is “Is there a relationship between stress and cancer?” is the question. Since this question arouses the curiosity of researchers, a lot of research and meta-analysis has been done in this area.

On the other hand, although studies on stress and cancer causation have been conducted, it is thought that the limitations of methodological methods may affect the results. The main questions that come to mind in this regard are whether the cancer occurs due to existing stress or whether the stress that develops after diagnosis affects the treatment outcome and the process negatively. Because data on cancer onset are uncertain, it is impossible to know with certainty whether a stressful event caused or followed the onset of the cancer. Therefore, it is easier to determine the recurrence of cancer. The contributing role of stress in recurrence or reactivation of tumor growth may be a reason for more fruitful research. There are different methods to measure stress. Questionnaires completed by patients themselves have been criticized for ignoring the meaning and context of stressful events, and for scoring systems to imply aggregation. Interview methods are superior and reliable, although more costly and time consuming. Studies trying to measure the effects of stress on cancer progression should also control for intervening variables such as personality and social support. In this context, it is impossible to look at the causality of stress and cancer from a single window.

A case-controlled study from Turkey showed that the increased risk of breast cancer may be associated with general life stress, such as the presence of a stressful experience, inadequate perception of social support, or the use of coping strategies by avoiding social support. In this study, forms questioning childhood traumas and major life events were applied to the participants.
If we look at the relationship between cancer and psychosocial stress through biochemical mechanisms, the secretion of stress hormones by the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which is activated by the formation of stress, and the suppression of the immune system with the rising stress hormone level may be the initiator of the mechanism. On the other hand, the balance of the antioxidant-oxidant system may be disturbed by the increased level of stress hormone. Uncontrollable oxidative stress may facilitate the development of cancer progression and metastasis. Oxidative damage may lead to cancer of cells by causing accumulated oncogenic mutations or triggering cell aging and disease-related cell death.

As a result, many studies have been conducted on the relationship between cancer and stress and different results have been obtained. Considering that stress is not the only cause of cancer and cancer is caused by multifactorial causes, it is familiar that stress reduction should be among the measures to be taken against cancer. As it has an effect on cancer development, recurrence and progression, it should be the primary prevention method to try to find the source of stress, which is within our sphere of influence, among suggestions such as quitting smoking, preventing obesity, and doing exercise continuously, with the help of professionals if necessary.