Oxidative stress from excessive mental and/or physical stress might possibly initiate the mutations in DNA that can lead to cancerous conditions. During periods of increased stress, reactive oxygen species levels rise, which can damage cells and their DNA. While some research has found a link between stress and cancer risk, other studies have found that higher stress levels may actually lower breast cancer risk. There is still a need for more investigation into how psychological stress may influence cancer development and growth.

1. Stress and Cancer:Is There a Correlation? By Lauren Fong PSY492 Advanced General Psychology Argosy University February 18, 2011

2. Stress Stress is a common occurrence in most people’s lives. Mental stress and physical stresstake a toll on the physical body (Merrill, 2010). Examples of stress inducing activities: frustration, anxiety, fear, nervousness, anger, depression,physical exercise,overexertion, tension, etc.

4. Cancer Cancer begins as a mutation in cellular DNA that affects normal cell growth and division (National Cancer Institute [NCI], 2010). Normal cells develop and reproduce depending on what the body needs to maintain health; usually, a dysfunctional or damaged cell stops its regular activity and repairs its DNA, or it undergoes apoptosis – cell death (NCI, 2010). When the cellular DNA is damaged or changed it can result in the production of cancer cells (NCI, 2010).

5. Characteristics of Cancer out-of-control reproduction rates, inhibited development, increased rates of glucose metabolism (which increases temperature of cancer cells/tissue), impaired oxygen metabolism, increased production of ROS, ignored signals to stop activities or undergo apoptosis, invasion of other tissues, and often development of tumors. (American Cancer Society, 2010; NCI, 2010; Simons, Mattson, Dornfeld, & Spitz, 2009; Warburg, Wind, & Negelin, 1926)

7. Stress & Cancer Correlation ROS damage healthy cells and promote mutations in DNA (Frohlich, McCabe, Arnold, & Day, 2008). Nobel Prize winning Otto Warburg (1926) hypothesized that mitochondrial dysfunctions within cancer cells cause increased ROS levels, impairing cellular respiration, compensated for by increasing glycolysis– glucose metabolism (Simons et al., 2009). Schäfer et al. (2002) found ROS participate in the transformation andspread of tumor cells.

8. Contrasting Evidence Nielson et al. (2005), argues increased stress levels actually lower the risk of developing cancer, specifically breast cancer. Over 6600 women were studied with 16 years of follow-up, from 1981 to 1999, and over 250 women were diagnosed with breast cancer during that period. Nielson et al. (2005) found a hazard ratio of 0.60 for breast cancer compared with women with low reported stress levels, indicating increased stress may lower breast cancer risk. However, stress levels were only assessed using self-reported stress measures; these results may not be as accurate as physiological stress tests might indicate.

9. Summary Oxidative stress inhibits the immune system and the natural capability of cells to correct and minimize dysfunctional cellular mechanisms, including DNA mutations. Oxidative stress from excessive mental and/or physical stress might possibly initiate the mutations in the DNA leading to cancerous conditions. According to the research gathered, frequent and long-term endurance of mental and/or physical stress may elevate the risk of cancer. There continues to be a need to further investigate the influence psychological stress has on cancer development and proliferation. Does stress increase cancer occurrence or is oxidative stress the result of cancer cell activity? Which comes first?

10. Discussion Frequent expression of negative behaviors (e.g. mental stress, depression, anxiety, fear, anger, frustration, etc.) may decrease the capability of the body’s cells to maintain health. The Exploratorium (2011) created an informational guide describing cancer stating the following: What characterizes full-blown cancer cells is that they’ve become decidedly anti-social, carrying on their activities without regard to the other cells and tissues around them. Most normal cells are monitored by a myriad of mechanisms that keep them working in cooperation with other cells. The description of the activity of cancer cells being so detrimental to the body’s health is astonishingly similar to the type of activity in the mind and in society that can pollute one’s quality of life. How do our thoughts influence our physiological environments (e.g. immune system, antioxidant levels, cellular health, etc.), and is psychological stress a major factor in developing cancer?

11. References American Cancer Society. (2010). Learn about cancer: Cancer basics. Retrieved on January 28, 2011 from http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerBasics/what-is-cancer Berlett, B. S. & Stadtman, E. R. (1997). Protein Oxidation in aging, disease, and oxidative stress. The journal of biological chemistry, 272, 20313-20316. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.272.33.20313 Exploratorium. (2011). Cancer: Cells behaving badly. Microscope imaging station. Retrieved on January 28, 2011 from http://www.exploratorium.edu/imaging_station/research/cancer /story_cancer1.php Frohlich, D.A., McCabe, M.T., Arnold, R.S. and Day, M.L. (2008). The role of Nrf2 in increased reactive oxygen species and DNA damage in prostate tumor genesis. Oncogene, 27(31), 4353-4363. DOI: 10.1038/onc.2008.79 Goncalves, L., Dafre, A. L., Carobrez, S. G. & Gasparotto, O. C. (2008). A temporal analysis of the relationships between social stress, humoral immune response and glutathione-related antioxidant defenses. Behavioral brain research, 192(2), 226-232. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr .2008.04.010 Hapuarachchi, J.R., Chalmers, A.H., Winefield, A.H., & Blake-Mortimer, J.S. (2003). Changes in clinically relevant metabolites with psychological stress parameters. Behavioral Medicine, 29(2), 52-60. Retrieved from Gale/Cengage Learning website, A116795829: http://find.galegroup.com.prx-01.lirn.net/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS Leonard, B. (2004). A biological between stress, depression and cancer? Research suggests that behavioural changes in cancer patients may result from activation of the cytokine network, producing symptoms that overlap with those seen in major depression. Cancer nursing practices 3(5), 17-20. Retrieved from Gale/Cengage Learning website, A117863177: <http://find.galegroup.com.prx-01.lirn.net/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS Marieb, E. N. (2008). Essentials of human anatomy and physiology (9th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Benjamin Cummings. Merrill, D. B. (2010). Stress and anxiety. Medline plus: A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. Retrieved on January 28, 2011 from http://www .nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003211.htm National Cancer Institute (2010). Cancer topics: What is cancer? Retrieved on January 21, 2011 from http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/cancerlibrary/what-is-cancer Nielson, N. R., Zhang, Z. F., Kristensen, T. S., Netterstrøm, B. Schnohr, P. & Grønaek, M. (2005). Self reported stress and risk of breast cancer: prospective cohort study. British medical journal, 331(7516), 548-550. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.38547.638183.06 “reactive oxygen species.” (2011). Genetics home reference:U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. Retrieved on January 28, 2011 from http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov /glossary=reactiveoxygenspecies Ristow, M. & Cuezva, J. M. (2009). Oxidative Phosphorylation and Cancer: The Ongoing Warburg Hypothesis. Cellular Respiration and Carcinogensis. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-59745-435-3_1 Schäfer, G. Cramer, T., Suske, G., Kemmer, W., Wiedenmann, B., & Hocker, M. (2002). Oxidative stress regulates vascular endothelial growth factor-A gene transcription through Sp01 and Sp-3-dependent activation of two proximal GC-rich promoter elements. The journal of biological chemistry, 278, 8190-8198. DOI: 10.1074/jbc .M211999200 Simons, A., Mattson, D., Dornfeld, K., & Spitz, D. (2009). Glucose deprivation-induced metabolic oxidative stress and caner therapy. Journal of Cancer Research and Therapeutics 5(9), 2. Retrieved from Gale/Cengage Learning website, A206968586: http://find.galegroup.com.prx-01.lirn.net/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS Speca, M., Carlson, L. E., Goodey, E., & Angen, M. (2000). A Randomized, Wait-List Controlled Clinical Trial: The Effect of a Mindfulness Meditation-Based Stress Reduction Program on Mood and Symptoms of Stress in Cancer Outpatients. Psychosomatic Medicine, 62, 613-622, DOI: 0033-3174/00/6205-0613 Warburg, O., Wind, F., & Negelin, E. (1926). The metabolism of tumors in the body (519-530). Berlin-Dahlem, Germany: Kaiser Wilhelm InstitutfürBiologie. Zanssen, S. & Schon, A. E. (2005). Mitochondrial DNA mutations in cancer. PLoS Medicine, 2(11), e401. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020401