The role of psychological stress in cancer initiation:clinical relevance and potential molecular mechanisms

The hypothesis that the physiological response to psychological stress influences the initiation of cancer is highly controversial. The link between initiating stressors, the psychological stress response, and disease is plausible considering that the stress response is associated with defined physiological outcomes and molecular mechanisms. In light of this, we review the clinical relevance of psychological stress on the risk of cancer, and we propose potential molecular pathways that may link the stress response to early stages of malignant cell transformation

Effect of internal port on dose distribution in post-mastectomy radiotherapy for breast cancer patients after expander breast reconstruction

Background: In patients with expander-based reconstruction a few dosimetric analyses detected radiation therapy dose perturbation due to the internal port of an expander, potentially leading to toxicity or loss of local control. This study aimed at adding data on this field. Materials and methods: A dosimetric analysis was conducted in 30 chest wall treatment planning without and with correction for port artifact. In plans with artifact correction density was overwritten as 1 g/cm3. Medium, minimum and maximum chest wall doses were compared in the two plans. Both plans, with and without correction, were compared on an anthropomorphic phantom with a tissue expander on the chest covered by a bolus simulating the skin. Ex vivo dosimetry was carried out on the phantom and in vivo dosimetry in three patients by using film strips during one treatment fraction. Estimated doses and measured film doses were compared. Results: No significant differences emerged in the minimum, medium and maximum doses in the two plans, without and with correction for port artifacts. Ex vivo and in vivo analyses showed a good correspondence between detected and calculated doses without and with correction. Conclusions: The port did not significantly affect dose distribution in patients who will receive post-mastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT)

An integrated framework for quantifying immune-tumour interactions in a 3D co-culture model

Investigational in vitro models that reflect the complexity of the interaction between the immune system and tumours are limited and difficult to establish. Herein, we present a platform to study the tumour-immune interaction using a co-culture between cancer spheroids and activated immune cells. An algorithm was developed for analysis of confocal images of the co-culture to evaluate the following quantitatively; immune cell infiltration, spheroid roundness and spheroid growth. As a proof of concept, the effect of the glucocorticoid stress hormone, cortisol was tested on 66CL4 co-culture model. Results were comparable to 66CL4 syngeneic in vivo mouse model undergoing psychological stress. Furthermore, administration of glucocorticoid receptor antagonists demonstrated the use of this model to determine the effect of treatments on the immune-tumour interplay. In conclusion, we provide a method of quantifying the interaction between the immune system and cancer, which can become a screening tool in immunotherapy design

Stress and drug resistance in cancer

Patients diagnosed with cancer often undergo considerable psychological distress, and the induction of the psychological stress response has been linked with a poor response to chemotherapy. The psychological stress response is mediated by fluctuations of the hormones glucocorticoids (GCs) and catecholamines. Binding to their respective receptors, GCs and the catecholamines adrenaline/noradrenaline are responsible for signalling a wide range of processes involved in cell survival, cell cycle and immune function. Synthetic GCs are also often prescribed as co-medication alongside chemotherapy, and increasing evidence suggests that GCs may induce chemoresistance in multiple cancer types. In this review, we bring together evidence linking psychological stress hormone signalling with resistance to chemo- and immune therapies, as well as mechanistic evidence regarding the effects of exogenous stress hormones on the efficacy of chemotherapies

Is water H2O?

In contrast with theories of “psychological essentialism” (Medin & Ortony, 1989; Keil, 1989), results from a seminal paper addressing the conceptual representation of “water” (Malt, 1994) suggested that the tendency to conceptualise something as “water” depends on the cognitive saliency of a liquid in participants’ everyday experience rather than on its percentage of H2O. But is this true regardless of specific expertise? It might be hypothesised that people interacting everyday with chemical compounds may hold more essentialist theories about natural kinds like water. This study explores whether chemists and non-chemists conceptualise “water” differently, by means of four experiments. The aim of the study is twofold: first, it assesses the replicability and generalisability of Malt’s study both across time—i.e., twenty years after—and cultures—i.e., to an Italian speaking sample of participants; second, it addresses the impact of expertise in shaping conceptual knowledg

Water is and is not H2O, depending on who you ask. Conceptualisations of water vary across chemists and laypeople

Conceptual representations can be shaped by multiple factors, including expertise. In this preregistered study, we tested whether the concept of “water” is represented differently across laypeople and chemists focusing on psychological essentialism. Essentialised categories are thought to be determined by internal factors (e.g., chemical composition). Previous research suggests laypeople do not essentialise “water”. Here, we sought to verify whether extensive experience with chemicals might lead to more essentialist conceptions. In the first two experiments participants provided H2O estimates, typicality, centrality, and frequency ratings for water examples, which showed that chemists partially incorporate H2O in their conceptual representation of “water”. Experiment 3 underlined qualitative differences in the semantic organisation of “water” across the two groups using similarity ratings. Experiment 4 consolidated these results with a sentence acceptability task, underlying the importance of chemical composition in determining what counts as “water” for chemists. Finally, Experiment 5 showed that laypeople consider both “H2O” and “water” as more abstract compared to chemists. Our results provide evidence on the variability of both psychological essentialism and conceptual representation overall, that can vary as a function of expertise

Pharmacologic inhibition of beta-adrenergic receptors decreases PD-L1 mediated immunosuppression and improves anti-tumor immune signature in ovarian cancer (126)

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