Stress hormones accelerate tumor growth

Chronic stress has recently been implicated as a factor that may accelerate the growth of tumors. However, the mechanisms underlying this effect have not been determined. But now, Anil Sood and colleagues, at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, have generated data using human ovarian cancer cell lines and tumor specimens that indicate that stress hormones, especially norepinephrine and epinephrine, can contribute to tumor progression in patients with ovarian cancer. They therefore suggest that targeting stress hormones and the signaling pathways that they activate might be of benefit to individuals with cancer.

Anoikis is the process by which cells are triggered to die when separated from their surrounding matrix and neighboring cells. Tumor cells that spread to other sites somehow escape anoikis. In the study, exposure of human ovarian cancer cells lines to either of the stress hormones norepinephrine or epinephrine protected them from anoikis.

Similarly, in a mouse model of ovarian cancer, restraint stress and the associated increases in norepinephrine and epinephrine protected the tumor cells from anoikis and promoted their growth. This effect was associated with activation of the protein FAK. The clinical significance of these data was highlighted by the observation that in human ovarian cancer patients, behavioral states related to greater stress hormone activity were associated with higher levels of activated FAK, which was in turn linked to substantially accelerated mortality.

###

TITLE: Adrenergic modulation of focal adhesion kinase protects human ovarian cancer cells from anoikis

AUTHOR CONTACT:
Anil K. Sood
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Phone: 713.745.5266; Fax: 713.792.7586; E-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/40802?key=2596f6813536fc72a7f8

—-
Contact: Karen Honey
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
734-546-5242
Journal of Clinical Investigation

Print Version
Tell-a-Friend comments powered by Disqus

RELATED ARTICLES:

New biomarkers may influence drug design and alternative treatments of cancer, study shows   Metabolic profiles distinguish early stage ovarian cancer with unprecedented accuracy   Moffitt researchers develop first genetic test to predict tumor sensitivity to radiation therapy   New drug for neuroblastoma shows promise in phase I study   Experimental treatment sends deadly leukemia into remission   Study could reduce unnecessary cancer screening   UA researchers discover component of cinnamon prevents colorectal cancer in mice   Profiling approach to enable right lung cancer treatment match   What’s the life expectancy of patients when they begin treatment for osteoporosis?   Widespread agricultural contaminant impacts fish reproductive behavior   Fat grafting technique improves results of breast augmentation   Germline TP53 mutations in patients with early-onset colorectal cancer