Stress may wake up resting cancer cells, causing cancer to return, according to theNCI-supported researchers. Learn more about their findings: CancerResearch
Researchers found that stress may help awaken dormant tumor cells, causing cancer to recur.Activation of neutrophils, a type of disease-fighting immune cell shown above, by stress hormones may lead dormant cancer cells to awaken.Sometimes cancer comes back long after the original tumor has been treated and removed. This is called recurrent cancer. Cancer can recur in the same place as the original tumor or in other places in the body if the tumor cells spread.
Further experiments showed that these proteins were needed to reactivate the dormant tumor cells. However, they didn’t directly affect dormant tumor cells. The presence of S100A8/A9 altered certain lipids and led to their accumulation in the neutrophils. These lipids interacted with the dormant tumor cells, leading to tumor cell reactivation and new tumors.
To determine whether humans have a similar stress-induced response, the researchers tested blood samples taken from 80 people with non-small cell lung cancer. They compared levels of norepinephrine and S100A8/A9 in those who never had a cancer recurrence or had a late recurrence with those who had an early recurrence . Patients who had an early recurrence showed higher levels of the molecules.
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