Unraveling the Link Between Stress and Cancer Spread
The Impact of Chronic Stress While stress is an unavoidable part of life, chronic stress can have detrimental effects on health, increasing the risk of heart disease , and strokes, and possibly even aiding in the spread of cancer. Understanding the mechanisms underlying this relationship has been a challenge in cancer care, but researchers from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) may have made a breakthrough in unraveling this complex connection. Discovering the Role of Neutrophils Former postdoc Xue-Yan He and Adjunct Professor Mikala Egeblad, along with CSHL Professor Linda Van Aelst, conducted a study revealing how stress impacts cancer spread. Their research demonstrated that stress triggers certain white blood cells called neutrophils to form sticky web-like structures known as neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). These NETs create an environment conducive to metastasis, facilitating the spread of cancer cells throughout the body. Implications for Treatment an...