Mechanisms underlying the effects of stress on tumorigenesis and metastasis (Review)

Abstract

Stress is one of the fundamental survival mechanisms in nature. Although chronic or long-lasting stress can be detrimental to health, acute or short-term stress can have health benefits. The aim of the present review was to address the complexity and significance of stress in tumorigenesis. The review covers an evaluation of previously used and reported experimental animal models of stress, as well as the effects of stress on the neuroendocrine system, immune function, gut microbiota, and inflammation and multidrug resistance, all of which are closely associated with cancer occurrence, progression and treatment. The review concludes that understanding the efficacy of stress management (prevention and rehabilitation) is crucial to the development of comprehensive and individualized strategies for cancer prevention and treatment.

The presence of polymorphisms in genes controlling neurotransmitter metabolism and disease prognosis in patients with prostate cancer: a possible link with schizophrenia

“…The information on PSA concentration dynamics before treatment was available for about 2,500 of the cases included in the database, making it possible to determine the doubling time of PSA concentration (PSADT) that allows assessing tumor growth rate and aggressivity, serving as a valuable prognostic criterion [23][24][25]. It is also remarkable that the psychological state of the PC patients included in the database appeared to correlate with the PSADT and disease prognosis [27], thus corroborating observations of other authors mentioned before [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18].…”

“…Oncological conditions are known to occur less frequently in schizophrenia patients [11,[13][14][15][16], and this phenomenon primarily affects men [50], being especially pronounced for PC [13,[16][17][18]. Interestingly, PC has recently emerged as a cancer, development of which strongly depends on neurogenic regulatory pathways provided by nerves growing as an important TME component [51].…”

“…At the same time, numerous polymorphic gene variants commonly present in the human genome were shown to mildly influence cancer pathogenesis and tumor progression [9,10], and it appears that that this genetic variability may contribute to occasionally detected associations between malignancies and non-oncological conditions. One of such associations was highlighted by repeated observations of liaisons between emotional stress, depression and chronic psychiatric disorders with the risk of cancer development [11][12][13][14][15][16]. Although there is a general consensus that chronic stress and depression tend to result in an impairment of the immune responses and might facilitate cancer initiation and progression [11,14,15], the risk of developing some cancers appeared to be decreased in patients with schizophrenia [13,16].…”

“…One of such associations was highlighted by repeated observations of liaisons between emotional stress, depression and chronic psychiatric disorders with the risk of cancer development [11][12][13][14][15][16]. Although there is a general consensus that chronic stress and depression tend to result in an impairment of the immune responses and might facilitate cancer initiation and progression [11,14,15], the risk of developing some cancers appeared to be decreased in patients with schizophrenia [13,16]. Remarkably, a significantly reduced risk of developing prostate cancer (PC) was consistently reported for men suffering from this severe condition [13,[16][17][18].…”

Psychological Stress and Cellular Aging in Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

“…A number of studies indicated that an excess of ROS/RNS followed by OS, i.e., a disturbance of equilibrium between prooxidant processes and the protective strategies of antioxidant defense system, is genotoxic and can induce DNA damage; thus, they may play a key role in cancer development and progression [75, 77, 78] and in neuropsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia or depression [108]. Excess intracellular ROS may result in neuronal membrane damage, alter a broad range of its functions, and cause multineurotransmitters' pathologies [69].…”