{"id":4325,"date":"2024-03-08T09:40:32","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T14:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/?p=4325"},"modified":"2024-03-08T09:40:32","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T14:40:32","slug":"new-study-finds-that-stress-strongly-fuels-cancers-deadly-spread","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/03\/new-study-finds-that-stress-strongly-fuels-cancers-deadly-spread.html","title":{"rendered":"New Study Finds That Stress Strongly Fuels Cancer’s Deadly Spread"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In an eye-opening study, scientists have discovered a crucial link between chronic stress and an increased risk of cancer metastasis, shedding light on why patients under severe stress often face poorer survival rates. The groundbreaking research, conducted on mice, shows that chronic stress not only paves the way for cancer to spread, especially to the lungs, but also significantly alters the body\u2019s internal environment to favor this deadly progression.<\/p>\n

For many cancer patients, the journey is fraught with anxiety and fear, not just about their prognosis but also about the grueling treatments ahead. This isn\u2019t just a mental burden; it\u2019s a physiological one that sets off a domino effect within the body, profoundly impacting everything from\u00a0memory and cognition\u00a0to the health of the heart, gut, and\u00a0immune system. Xue-Yan He, a former postdoc at Cold Spring Harbor, said in a\u00a0statement<\/a>, \u201cStress is something\u00a0we cannot really avoid\u00a0in cancer patients. You can imagine if you are diagnosed, you cannot stop thinking about the disease or insurance or family. So it is very important to understand how stress works on us.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the heart of this stress response is the release of glucocorticoids, a type of stress hormone that, while crucial for\u00a0managing stress, plays a pivotal role in making the body a more hospitable place for cancer to spread. The study by researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory illustrates how chronic stress induces a notable shift in the body\u2019s\u00a0circadian rhythm, particularly affecting neutrophils, a type of white blood cell. These stressed neutrophils start forming something called neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which are essentially sticky webs of DNA that can trap pathogens.<\/p>\n

However, in the case of cancer, these NETs do not serve their usual protective role. Instead, they create a welcoming environment for cancer cells to settle and grow in new parts of the body, like the lungs. To study this phenomenon, the researchers mimicked chronic stress in mice with cancer. Following the removal\u00a0of tumors,\u00a0the mice were subjected to stress, leading to a startling observation by He: a significant increase in metastatic lesions, marking up to a fourfold surge in\u00a0cancer spread.<\/p>\n