Stress hormones make ovarian cancer more invasive

Hi everyone This week in Ob/Gyn World Weekly, there's a summary of a new study linking higher levels of stress hormones with progression of ovarian cancer.

The research found that ovarian cancer cells treated with stress hormones express elevated levels of proteins associated with tumor invasion.

Here's a link to more information:

http://www.obgynworld.com/internatio...cePageID=91004

and a citation for the source of the article:

	Quote:
Stress hormones make ovarian cancer cells invasive Source: 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society: Orlando, Florida; March 3-6 2004

I suspect they'll eventually find the same link with other "female" cancers... that stress gets us in so many ways


-Linda

Hi Linda,

This does not surprise me at all. I think that while stress may not casue cancer it is definitely a contributes to his growth. My cancer was diagnosed shortly after a prolonged period of depression, which I think is a particularly dangerous trpe of stress. We must do whatever we can to relieve the stress in our lives. For me that is prayer, outdoor exercise, time with family and good friends.

I firmly believe stress contributes in a negative way to almost any ailment of the body -- and mind.

When I had my TAH / BSO 14 years ago, I knew very little about it all. Didn't ask a lot of questions. (I recently found a booklet my doctor had given me about the surgery. Maybe I didn't read it much.) Guess I didn't know what to worry about -- so I didn't. Whole thing was a breeze.

I was very scared and anxious when I first got my DCIS diagnosis in November '02. By the time I was going through the radiation treatments, I was not so. I had very little side effects from radiation.

Mary D.

Lovely. Something else that we can blame oursevles for! Too much stress and we give ourselves cancer? If we have the 'wrong' personality, and don't handle stress well, we get cancer? If we have terrible things happen in our lives, like job loss or the death of a spouse, things that contribute to stress, we increase our chances of cancer? Reports like these would seem to just add to the stress that woman are already feeling. Often times there is little women can do to lessen their stress. They can't control for sick child or an out of work spouse or a parent with Alzheimers. It hardly seems fair to tell them that such stress can cause cancer! No one elects to be stressed and often women who are stressed have little power to fix the situation that is causing the stress. It just doesn't seem fair to add yet another stresser to their lives!

I had NO stress in my life when I got cancer. No money problems, a great husband, great kids, wonderful friends. Nothing. Yet I got cancer. Go figure! I guess I still had the 'wrong' personality! The happy one!

Janie

Thank you for the link, Linda. I had not been registered at this site and I'm sure it will be helpful as I am a nurse and a ca patient.
Here's another reason for stress reduction. (whatever that is)
I'm generally a laid back non worrying type of person. I suppose after losing both parents in a year and trying to get pregnant forever, it stands to reason that I would be stressed out. (and get diagnosed with ovarian cancer instead of getting pregnant). You just never know...

Oh, (((Mary)))

-Linda

Yes, it doesn't seem fair...but I can't help but believe that it's true. May not be 100%, in that some who are stressed don't get cancer, and some who aren't stressed do....

And of course while the ovarian cancer piece is limited to women, I'd be willing to bet that stress plays just as big a role in cancers that men get...and in cancers that aren't gender-specific, too.

I do believe that there are intimate links between spirit, mind, and body.

Rather than blaming ourselves, perhaps it's an opportunity to watch ourselves under stress in the future--to avoid when it can be avoided, and to develop ways to handle it when it's inevitable.

Of course it's a trade thing with me but there certainly are studies that point up some correlations between physical health and spirituality or faith.

Anyway, it's interesting.

Blessings.
Marlene