(HealthDay News) -- A
new study finds that
black and Hispanic
women with breast
cancer suffer more
stress than white
women, and the
researchers connected
the extra stress to more
aggressive tumors.
But, the study authors
cautioned that the
research is preliminary
and doesn't provide
insight into whether the
women's stress levels
already were high
before diagnosis,
whether the stress
levels increased after
diagnosis, or whether
the increased stress
caused the cancer to be
more aggressive.
Still, the findings point
to one possible -- if
unconfirmed --
explanation why breast
cancer is generally
worse in black and
Hispanic women, said
study lead author Garth
H. Rauscher.
"One possible reason
for that, among others,
could be differences in
the role of stress in
influencing the
development of breast
cancer," said Rauscher,
associate professor of
epidemiology at the
University of Illinois at
Chicago's School of
Public Health.
The researchers studied
989 breast cancer
patients who had been
recently diagnosed with
the disease. Within two
to three months after
their diagnosis, the
women responded to
surveys about their
levels of stress; the
surveys asked about
issues such as their
levels of loneliness,
anxiety and fear.
The investigators also
used medical tests to
examine the
aggressiveness of the
women's tumors.
Eleven percent of the
397 white women in
the study reached a
level of stress that the
researchers considered
to be elevated,
Rauscher said.
However, the stress
levels were about twice
as high for the two
minority groups: 24
percent of the 181
Hispanic women and 22
percent of the 411 black
women reported
elevated stress. (Other
minority groups
weren't included in the
study.)
Rauscher said more
research is needed
because the study
didn't answer how
stress might be linked
to the aggressiveness
of tumors. Did the
stress come first? Or
the tumors? Or did
both appear at the
same time?
"If we'd interviewed
these women one year
or five years or 10
years prior to
diagnosis, would these
same women have
reported greater levels
of stress than their
counterparts in the
study?" he asked. "It's
fairly reasonable to
assume there's a
correlation in the level
of stress they report
after diagnosis and
what they reported
prior to that, but we
don't have any data to
say that's true."
However, Rauscher
said the new research is
consistent with
previous findings from
studies in rodents.
Those studies found
that severe stress and
social isolation boosted
the risk of breast
cancer, he noted.
The study was to be
presented this week at
the American
Association for Cancer
Research Conference on
the Science of Cancer
Health Disparities, in
Washington D.C. The
findings should be
viewed as preliminary
until they are published
in a peer-reviewed
medical journal.
Dr. Laura Kruper, an
assistant professor and
cancer surgeon at City
of Hope Cancer Center
in Duarte, Calif.,
cautioned that the study
doesn't allow any
conclusions to be made
about how stress is
connected to more
aggressive tumors. "To
clearly show an
association between
higher stress levels and
aggressiveness of
breast cancer, patients
would have to be
followed for many
years prior to diagnosis
to see if patients with
higher levels of stress
developed more
aggressive forms of
cancer," she said.
Kruper said the idea that
stress causes cancer is
unproven, although it's
possible. A cancer
diagnosis can certainly
cause stress, she said.
"Some patients need
temporary anti-anxiety
medications. Most only
need the medications
during a short time
during their treatment,"
she said. "We often
prescribe low-dose
antidepressants, not
only to help with
mood, which can
definitely be impacted
by a breast cancer
diagnosis, but also to
help combat the side
effects of the breast
cancer treatments such
as hot flashes."
More information The
U.S. National Cancer
Institute has a fact sheet
about psychological
stress and cancer.
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