Can stress alone can give you BC

There's no research to support it. Most BC appears to be random (or environmental), at least at our current understanding of genetic factors.

I do not think this is a stupid question. I have no known family history of bc. I grew up in a toxic family- narcissism, constant chaos, parent alienation syndrone, women viewed as not only worthless but also as 'the enemy'....... I learned to 'walk on eggshells' at a very young age. And have lived with a high level of stress most of my life while in a relationship with them. I eventually cut off contact with them. But I have wondered if the toxicity I have endured, especially as so much was directed toward me simply because I am female, may have been a contributing factor in my metastatic breast cancer.

I've wondered this too as I have spent the last ten years it seems in a state of high anxiety (career driven, mostly) and then stressful events (international move, finding new job, back injury), punctuated with two back to back spring periods of extremely high stress. I've always been very healthy and I think the stress just wore me down - kept me from my normal activities, learning new things, bouncing back and taking care of myself. I don't think it caused the cancer (no family history or other risk factors other than pretty dense breasts, even though I had half of them removed twenty years ago) but it really didn't help.

I have always felt five years of fighting PTSD led to my cancer. I don’t think stress itself causes it directly, but an intense period of stress can somehow trigger it. Maybe trigger a genetic on-switch, or like others have said, weaken the immune system enough to let the cancer take hold. Definitely on a mission to clear clutter, refocus my life, restructure our home life, and lower stress now.

I work with a culture of people who have experienced generations of unrelenting stress. The vast majority of them have never had cancer. When we experience severe stress, it feels as though it should kill us and I am certain that it does a lot of harm. But it certainly does not appear to cause cancer. I do not believe we will ever find that simple of a cause. But better treatments for mental health should still be a priority.

I can vote for the negative effect of stress. I just went through about 4 years of almost constant stress, job changes, mother got cancer a fourth time and just passed away of it, moved all around, with the only positive being able to attend grad school after work, and also recreation like hiking. I also recently read online that alcohol in particular is a causal factor and I never drank huge amounts but did consume it regularly overseas and in college, so I personally wonder if these two things contributed to it for me getting it at age 49. My mother had breast cancer three times, pancreatic once, but neither of us had the genes other than AXIN-2, which is indeterminate. I have a strong personal hunch stress (as my mother even told me before she died) contributed to mine. Oh, and realized, like the above post, I also have combat related PTSD. I vote for stress as a contributing factor for mine at least.

I think if stress (even extremely high not normal stress) caused cancer there would be a lot more people with cancer.

I had stress free life, considered myself really lucky etc etc. I had (still have mainly) all the assets that contribute to an easy life and lo and behold I got cancer.

Me: slim athletic healthy eater great family friends support terrific job - what more can I say?

Stress didn't contribute to my breast cancer but cancer is now my permanent cause of stress.

When I was first diagnosed I heard a doctor present on breast cancer. At that time he said, we know how to prevent breast cancer... live like a peasant. Start having children early and have lots. Clearly an overstatement but what he was getting at is that there is a very strong link between breast cancer and hormones. There are those that have postulated that the fact that in society we are now typically having very few children is driving up breast cancer rates. This would align with the findings that there is (I believe - it's been some times since I looked at the stats) a higher prevalence in developed countries.

When I was initially diagnosed I didn't feel the need to dwell on the "why". I also had no history of BC in my family but, in the years leading up to my diagnosis I was overweight (link to hormones) and I don't have any children (see above). Of course, I had also been exposed to carcinogens through my scientific research and ??? It's so hard to know. I'm sure stress doesn't help but... ultimately I felt knowing the "why" wouldn't change things.

I agree we should not blame ourselves.

But, like others, I have also been wondering about the triggers in my case and the timing of the disease.

As much as my MO didn't seem too fussed about diet when I first met him, he was quite inquisitive about the level of stress in my job which I found interesting. When I informed him of my decision to cut my working hours he stated this was "a very good idea" so I assumed he considered stress to be a contributing factor.

I think I was very stressed the 13 months before I found my lump.

https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1679-45082015000300352

Many of you have made insightful comments. I think it's human nature to want to find the cause behind most occurrences. But the truth with bc is that beyond the small percentage of patients with known genetic risks and a few other contributing factors ( but not causative factors) the answer is no one knows. Dwelling on why/how we got bc will be an exercise in futility for most of us. Deciding on your own that stress was a major contributor is purely anecdotal and, as many have said, if that trust were the case there'd be a lot more cancer out there.

On the genetic note, an earlier poster mentioned that despite many family members with cancer, she is BRCA negative. Please be aware that genetic testing has gone far beyond BRCA. They can now test for over 30 gene mutations that can be related to bc. My testing was called the Ambry panel, but there are other companies besides Ambry that offer similar testing. As for me, all genetic tests have been negative despite several family members with cancer. The only reason I would like to know what caused my bc is to help others. I already have it, so personally, spending any time unraveling its origin is pointless