Study: Stress and Skin Cancer Linked

Baltimore scientists say chronic stress may speed up the onset or spread of skin cancer in those at high-risk for the disease.

A study by a team from the Johns Hopkins University shows mice exposed to stressful conditions and cancer-causing ultra-violet light develop skin cancers in less than half the time it took for non-stressed mice to grow tumors.

The investigators say that if what they are seeing in mice has relevance in man, stress-reducing programs like yoga and meditation may help those at high risk for skin cancer stay healthy longer.

Dr. Francisco Tausk said recently that he and his colleagues exposed 40 mice to the scent of fox urine, the mouse equivalent of big-time stress, and large amounts of UV light. The first skin tumor in one of the mice appeared after eight weeks of testing. Mice exposed only to UV light began developing tumors 13 weeks later. By 21 weeks of testing, 14 of the 40 stressed mice had at least one tumor, and two non-stressed mice had tumors. Most tumors were squamous cell skin cancers, also known as non-melanoma cancers, but which have the potential to spread to other parts of the body.