Stress hormones can accelerate breast cancer
Breast cancer patients who buy Tamoxifen can increase their chances of fighting their disease successfully.
Breast cancer patients who buy Tamoxifen can increase their chances of fighting their disease successfully. Meanwhile, scientists conducting cancer research are searching for new ways to attack the malignant cells. A new study shows that tumor cells in the breast may be very responsive to stress hormones.
Based on previous evidence suggesting that stress increases one's risk for cancer, a study led by the University of Western Ontario investigated the effects of two neurotransmitters released by the nervous system in times of stress, norepinephrine and neuropeptide Y (NPY), on breast cancer cells.
"Since there is a very dense supply of sympathetic nerves in the female breast, it would be reasonable to suspect that NPY may be released in greater amounts in the breasts of those at risk for breast cancer," said author Dwayne Jackson. "Thus, we postulated if cancer cells are present and they respond to NPY, then this neuropeptide and its receptors would form a functional link between stress and breast cancer progression."
In the laboratory, the scientists observed that NPY not only causes breast cancer cells to grow, but also helps them migrate, which are both important steps in the spread of cancer, said co-author Philip Medeiros. The new study is published online in International Journal of Cancer.
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