Did having a stressfull life cause your breast cancer?

It would be wonderful if we could pin the cause of bc to one thing, be it diet, stress or heredity. The reality is we can't. While keeping stress to a minimum and maintaining a healthy lifestyle are advisable for all of us, failing to do this does not cause bc. As for heredity, the vast majority of bc arises without a known genetic connection. Very, very few people have the BRCA 1 or 2 gene ( there are probably other mutations, but they are not known yet). There simply is no direct cause and effect known at this time. Focus on what you can do now to stay as healthy as possible. Wishing you the best.

Caryn

The single most significant risk factor for developing breast cancer is being a woman.

The second most significant risk factor is getting older.  

Then comes a bunch of things that we can't control - our family history, whether or not we have dense breasts, the age at which our periods started, etc..  On this part of the high-to-moderate risk list there are also a few things that we can control, such as how many children we had, whether we ever had chemo or radiation treatment for cancer.... but most of these 'controllable' factors are not things that most women would be willing to change just for the sake of possibly reducing their risk of BC. Would you have more children on the off chance that it might help you avoid developing breast cancer sometime down the road?  If you had leukemia as a child, would you avoid life-saving chemo because it presents a risk that you might develop breast cancer as an adult?  

So unfortunately, pretty much the entire list of high-to-moderate risk factors are things that we can't - or wouldn't be willing to - control. 

There are the lesser risk factors, and this list includes many external factors, either lifestyle or environmental. I don't know if it's ever been proven that stress might play a role in the development of breast cancer, but if it does, it would be one of these lesser risk factors. My guess is that these types of lifestyle and environmental factors don't on their own cause cancer - they don't cause the mutation of the cells - but I wouldn't be surprised if some of these factors, including possibly stress, might speed the development of an already existing cancer.

Most experts believe that most cases of breast cancer have been in our bodies for years - I've read anywhere from 2 years to 10 years - before the cancer becomes large enough to be found.  If there is a small area of cancer cells lying dormant or growing very slowly, might stress trigger those cells to grow more quickly?  I think so. But does that mean that stress caused the cancer?  No, it's just one of the many factors that combined together to make the cancer present itself at the time that it did. I had a very stressful few years before I was diagnosed.  I think that may have contributed to the timing of my diagnosis, but I don't think that it in any way caused my diagnosis. 

Except for those who have a known genetic mutation, I don't think any of us can ever know what caused the development of our cancer.  It would be great if we did; if it was something in our life that we could change, then we'd just change it and not have to worry about breast cancer ever again. If only it was that easy!  But it's not. 

The best we can do is be as healthy as we can be, live as comfortably and stress-free as we can - that's good for your health in lots of ways - and hope that we aren't diagnosed again. 

I do think that stress played a big part in the cancer development for me. I had a clear mammogram but the following 2 years were insanely stressful. I always ate healthy (almost vegetarian+ organic and non-processed food when possible). I exercised 5 days a week. There is no family history of breast cancer. Anyhow, I had an incredibly stressful job with long hours and was finishing my master's degree simultaneously. Two years of this and I was diagnosed at the age of 45 with metastatic breast cancer that spread to the bones, liver, lungs, lymph nodes +the primary tumor. I think everyone has cancer cells in their bodies. Stress impairs our immune system. Other things such as environmental toxins and sugar, etc. can also impair the immune system. I am learning to live with less stress through positive affirmations, meditation and learning to have compassion and a gentle approach towards myself and others.

I don't think stress helps and may indeed contribute or trigger to the disease process, but I agree with Beesie's post.

I believe strongly in the stress component for all of the reasons already stated. It was the only negative thing going on in my life.

If stress were a major causative factor for bc, I think we'd be seeing far more cases than we already do (which is, of course, far too many). I also don't believe that negative things going on in our lives caused our disease. I have known too many calm, stress free folks who have gotten cancer.

Caryn

My BS told me that my cancer had been there for about 4 years based on the size and grade, and that coincided with a prolonged period of depression and anxiety with physical symptoms, which I had never experienced before that. I do believe it was contributer. I also think taking the pill for 20 was most likely a contributor. I'm sure its probably different for each of us but I also think the hormones in our foods and environment play a big role.

No.  Stress had very little to do with my developing breast cancer.  I was healthy, active, happily married with an excellent job, and a wonderful lifestyle.  Nothing in my life to be stressed about and I was in a better place than I'd ever been.  We were travelling, upgrading our house and enjoying moving into our middle years.  It was lovely.

Then, ka-wham.  Breast cancer.  Out of no-where.  So, no, I don't believe that stress caused my breast cancer.  A deviant cell did.

Dear new2bc, 

You may want to check out the helpful section, Don't Stress about Stress and Risk on the main breastcancer.org site.  

We hope this helps

The Mods

I don't know what caused it, nobody really does with certainty. However, I did have a really stressful job that after my bc diagnosis I decided to leave. I know that with any medical condition intense stress can make it worse...and if we have a choice, why would we want to live out the rest of our days that way, especially since getting bc reminds us that's a finite number.

I believe that stress is a factor and I can i.d. an extremely stressful period in my life that fits with what I've learned about how bc develops.  OTOH, I don't believe stress alone causes bc, or that the absence of stress means someone won't develop bc.  It's just one more piece of a complex, quite individual puzzle, which in my case probably also includes genetics and HRT.

I also think the strong desire many of us have to rid ourselves of the stresses in our lives post-dx is an affirmation that stress may have been a contributor to the disease process for us.  Personally, I put up with a lot less crap from ppl before speaking up and letting them know how I feel, whereas in the past, I didn't.  And I think that's a very common attitude with bc survivors, and something we instinctively do now to minimize stress.   JMHO...    Deanna

Yes, I believe stress did play a part in mine - but when people say "stress" they often mean different things. Stress as in living a hectic life or worrying a lot? Probably no.

But there are studies suggesting a connection between anxiety/depression/mental illness and sleeplessness, and there is a connection between disrupted melatonin levels/faulty cricadian rhythms and BC incidence.

There is also a connection between what is know as the HPA axis (Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal gland axis) and hormonal inbalances, and then breast cancer, although little is still known and the association remains under study.

These associations absolutely exist - what isn't know is the cause-effect part. Whether one CAUSES the other or whether an underlying organic vulerability predisposes a person to BOTH BC and what some may call "stress" reimans to be determined.

One thing we know for sure is that there are likely many causes for BC and each person who gets the disease may have had different prompting factors.

PS: But if "stress" DID "cause" the BC, it isn't your fault! BC sure as hell cuases stress!

YES, I'm sure it did, I think it was the defining factor and I'm avoiding all stress now to avoid further illness.

The Israeli's were the first I believe to correlate cancer with stress.

Hugs

Kat

I would like to add for me it was a series of very 'stressful events' from childhood onwards rather than stress as in a hectic working life. I believe these influences to be somehow, in part related to my cancer dx. I cannot think that the mind and body are so separate that one has no influence on the other. Yet we know that equally strong, healthy people with no risk factors are dx too, that is hard to understand.

For me, along with high oestrogen levels, general ill health, ethnicity and childhood poverty in my case, meant I was predisposed to major illness. I believe that all of this contributed to my cancer, in ways not yet known.

The cure for cancer proves to be elusive and complex, then so is the cause.

More research needed.