Study: Stress Not Linked to the Recurrence of Breast Cancer

Stress is not linked to the recurrence of breast cancer, according to British researchers.

Researchers conducted a study of 222 women under age 60 who had been diagnosed with a primary operable breast tumor between May 1991 and July 1994. They collected data on stressful life experiences and depression from one year before diagnosis to five years after diagnosis.

Researchers found no evidence that women who have a severely stressful life experience in the year before their diagnosis of breast cancer, or in the five years after diagnosis, were at an increased risk of developing a recurrence of the disease.

Women who had one or more severely stressful life experiences after diagnosis actually had a lower risk of recurrence than those who did not, according to the study published in the British Medical Journal.

Although previous research has showed that severely stressful life experiences increase the risk of breast cancer recurrence, researchers believe that different study methods may explain the differing results.

"We took the prospective study as the more robust, and the results suggest that women with breast cancer need not fear that stressful experiences will precipitate the return of their disease," wrote the investigators.

Other sources: British Medical Journal