Cancer spreads faster with stress: Australian researchers believe common blood pressure drug may reduce cancer spread

In a study on mice, Australian researchers have shown that stress acts as a fertiliser to cancer and helps it spread faster through body’s lymphatic system. Stress builds lymphatic “highways,” which provide cancer cells a faster and more efficient route to spread inside the body. The lymphatic system carries immune cells through the body to fight diseases, but it also transports cancer cells.

However, there is good news, too. The researchers found out that the spread can be checked if a common blood pressure drug is used. The drug is currently being trialled in cancer patients to see its effect on the spreading of cancer.

Chronic stress can be extremely detrimental to cancer patients, and previous studies have shown that stress results in poor cancer survival. Researchers Dr. Erica Sloan and Dr. Caroline Le are of the opinion that high stress levels increase lymphatic activity. Therefore, a patient’s lymphatic system turns into a highly efficient distributor of cancer cells. Their research suggests that “blocking the effects of stress to prevent cancer spread through lymphatic routes may provide a way to improve outcomes for patients with cancer.”

After collaborating with Milan's European Institute of Oncology and Melbourne's Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the researchers showed that blocking neural signalling with readily available drugs that treat hypertension can regulate lymphatic system functions and prevent cancer spread.

The researchers used the drug propranolol to block the action of adrenaline in the stressed mice. Surprisingly, the drug stopped stress hormones from remodelling the lymph vessels inside the tumour and reduced the risk of cancer spread through lymph nodes.

Sloan and her team also looked at data of almost 1,000 breast cancer patients in Italy to find out if beta-blockers had the same effect on them. After seven years of tracking, it was found out that the patients who had taken beta-blockers showed far less evidence of tumour cells moving into the lymph nodes and then disseminating to other organs like the lung.

“What also makes this study exciting is the affordability of [possible] interventions,” said Medical Oncologist Associate Prof. Elgene Lim from the Garvan Institute.