Background: Over the last 20 years contradictory results have been obtained as regards to the role of psychosocial factors in favouring the onset of breast cancer and/or in influencing disease progression. Methods: The present study prospectively investigated the association between psychosocial variables and breast cancer in 95 out-patients. Within 3 months from the diagnosis the patients completed a series of questionnaires to evaluate psychological disturbances, emotional repression, adjustment to cancer, social support and occurrence of life events in the past. At a distance of 6 years from the first assessment, the patients’ charts were re-examined in order to evaluate the course of cancer. Results: A higher volume of primary tumour at surgery was shown in patients who had had stressful events in the 6 months preceding cancer diagnosis. At follow-up, no relationship was found between psychosocial variables and the course of disease. The analysis of the frequency of relapses and deaths, and the survival analysis indicated that positivity of loco-regional lymph nodes, infiltrating histotype of the tumour and tumour stage were the only significant predictors of the time of death. Conclusions: The study suggests that clinical and biological rather than psychosocial factors exert a major role in breast cancer progression.

The effects of experimental stressors have been examined for their differential effects on primary tumor growth and spontaneous lung metastasis in syngeneic mice bearing the weakly immunogenic tumor Lewis lung carcinoma. The effects caused by the early weaning, physical restraint and foot-shock are in general small, and affected by a high variability. On the contrary, spatial disorientation reproducibly causes a specific increase in tumor metastases. The effects of spatial disorientation are sensitive to the inhibition by treatment with bromocryptine and guanethidine, and particularly by a central and peripheral adrenergic neuron blocking agent reserpine. The use of different lighting conditions and assay of urinary melatonin excretion reveal an association between pineal gland function and effects of spatial disorientation on metastasis.

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