Quentin Liu, Ph.D.

Chronic stress and the consequent release of the stress hormone epinephrine may help breast cancer cells grow by helping them get more energy, a study in mice shows. This effect might be reversed through treatment with vitamin C, researchers report.

The study, “Stress-induced epinephrine enhances lactate dehydrogenase A and promotes breast cancer stem-like cells,” was published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

The researchers first wanted to examine how stress affects tumor development. To do this, they stressed mice by confining them in a small habitat for a month. The stressed mice exhibited behaviors that resembled anxiety and depression, suggesting that the model was effective at generating mouse stress… Continue reading.