Could stress cause cancer? A generous donation from a cancer sufferer is enabling Flinders University researchers to explore this important query.
84-year-old Beryl from the northern suburbs of Adelaide experienced an incredibly stressful time early in 2020 when her partner James fell ill with pneumonia.
Beryl felt worn down by the role of carer and became sick herself. She then discovered she had developed a rare type of breast cancer, encapsulated papillary carcinoma, which had spread outside the duct.
‘I wondered if the impact of the incredible stress I was under had in fact caused the cancer – but no one could provide me with an answer,’ says Beryl.
She then approached Flinders University with funding to establish a research study to investigate the possible link between stress and cancer.
The new study is looking at different ways of measuring stress and the stress response in women receiving treatment for breast cancer, including analysing levels of the stress hormone cortisol in patients during chemotherapy.
Assessing the link between stress and cancer, Associate Professor Sarah Cohen-Woods, Professor Bogda Koczwara and Associate Professor Michael Michael.
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