For breast cancer patients, a woman's ability to successfully cope with stress may lead to improved outcomes, according to research published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

A review of the mind-body connection in women with breast cancer shows that the stress of the diagnosis may make the disease worse, but a good coping style may aid the treatment and outcome.

"Interventions focused on improving women's ability to cope with breast cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery may have beneficial effects on emotional adjustment and potentially on physiological processes," said Linda J. Luecken, PhD, of Arizona State University and Bruce E. Compas, PhD, of Vanderbilt University (formerly with the University of Vermont).

Researchers gleaned data from several studies to show that stress, mental state and coping style all work together to affect biological factors such as immune function and hormone levels, both of which play roles in cancer progression.

Stress, distress, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder have been associated with reduced immune function and altered hormone balance. However, healthy coping has been shown to improve these factors and may potentially affect cancer outcomes, said the researchers.

Investigators define coping as "conscious, volitional efforts to regulate one's cognitive, behavioral, emotional and physiological responses to stress and stressful aspects of the environment." Active coping is described as taking and direct and rational approach to dealing with a problem, while passive coping involves indirect approaches such as avoidance, withdrawal and wishful thinking.

Research has shown that patients who adopt active coping strategies have better immune function and lower cortisol levels and the opposite is true for patients using passive coping strategies.

"There is clear evidence that interventions can have positive effects on emotional adjustment, functional adjustment and treatment of disease-related symptoms," said the authors.

Both active coping and effective psychological treatment can also aid the treatment of cancer by ensuring that women more closely follow their cancer treatment, wrote the authors.

Other sources: Annals of Behaviorial Medicine