Chronic stress ‘opens up new routes for the disease to spread quickly through the bloodstream’

Chronic stress accelerates the spread of cancer, scientists have revealed.
A new study found that stress builds lymphatic ‘highways’ that allow cancer cells to move around the body faster.

The lymphatic system normally transports immune cells throughout the body to fight illness.

But, scientists from Monash University in Melbourne discovered that it plays a role in carrying cancer cells, as well.

Furthermore, high stress levels trigger increased lymphatic activity, which helps cancer cells move more freely.

This finding could lead to the development of new treatments to stop the spread of cancer.

Chronic stress speeds up the spread of cancer cells, according to scientists. That’s because stress helps build lymphatic ‘highways’ that allow cancer cells to move around more freely

Study co-author Dr Caroline Le said: ‘These findings demonstrate an instrumental role for stress in controlling lymphatic function to impact health.’

The scientists tagged tumor cells with a fluorescent marker and used state-of-the-art imaging techniques to accurately monitor cancer cells that had spread into lymphatic vessels.

Dr Le said: ‘We found that chronic stress signals the sympathetic nervous system (SNS ) – better known as the “fight-or-flight” response – to profoundly impact lymphatic function and the spread of cancer cells.’

They found that stress increased the number and size of lymphatic vessels in and around tumors.

Additionally, they also found that, at the same time, the rate of fluid flow increased through those vessels.

The increased movement and fluid flow combined helps to increase the capacity of lymphatic ‘highways.’

Those highways carry and spread tumor cells throughout the body.

The scientists also found that blocking neural signaling in patients – with drugs that are readily available and currently used to treat hypertension – can aid in regulating the function of lymphatic cells.

That, in turn, would help prevent the spread of cancer cells.

Dr Le said that the findings ‘suggest that blocking the effects of stress to prevent cancer spread through lymphatic routes may provide a way to improve outcomes for patients with cancer’.

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.

Similarly, a recent study also linked stress to an inability to lose weight.

Chronic stress stimulates production of a protein that reduces the body’s ability to break down fat, scientists from University of Florida said.

Co-study author Dr Li-Jun Yang, a professor at the UF College of Medicine, said: ‘Stress causes you to accumulate more fat, or at least slows down fat metabolism.

‘This is yet another reason why it’s best to resolve stressful situations and to pursue a balanced life.’

Experiments on cells taken from mice and humans were first used to establish betatrophin’s role in body fat regulation, according to the study, which was published in the journal BBA Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids.

Written by Lisa Ryan for The Daily Mail, March 2, 2016.

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