Stress Fuels Breast Cancer Metastasis to Bone

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120717183344.htm

ScienceDaily (July 17, 2012) — Stress can promote breast cancer cell colonization of bone, Vanderbilt Center for Bone Biology investigators have discovered.

The studies, reported July 17 in PLoS Biology, demonstrate in mice that activation of the sympathetic nervous system -- the "fight-or-flight" response to stress -- primes the bone environment for breast cancer cell metastasis. The researchers were able to prevent breast cancer cell lesions in bone using propranolol, a cardiovascular medicine that inhibits sympathetic nervous system signals.

Metastasis -- the spread of cancer cells to distant organs, including bone -- is more likely to kill patients than a primary breast tumor, said Florent Elefteriou, Ph.D., director of the Vanderbilt Center for Bone Biology.

"Preventing metastasis is really the goal we want to achieve," he said.