TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of self-reported stress in the development of breast cancer and prostate cancer: A prospective cohort study of employed males and females with 30 years of follow-up
AU - Metcalfe, C
AU - Smith, GD
AU - Macleod, John
AU - Hart, C
PY - 2007/4/1
Y1 - 2007/4/1
N2 - We investigate the association between psychological stress and breast cancer and, as oestrogen may provide a common mechanism, the association between stress and prostate cancer. A prospective study of 991 women and 5743 men employed in Scotland in the 1970s provided data. Risk exposure was measured by questionnaire and physical examination, routine data collection provided cancer outcomes over the subsequent 30 years. There was weak evidence of elevated incidences in those reporting moderate (breast cancer: hazard ratio [HR] 2.16, 95% CI 1.00-4.71; prostate cancer: HR 1.65, 95% Cl 1.20-2.27) and high stress (breast cancer: HR 1.92, 95% CI 0.81-4.55; prostate cancer: HR 1.35, 95% CI 0.872.10) compared to those reporting low stress. These estimates are adjusted for socioeconomic circumstances and health-related behaviours. With no dose-response relationship and no established mechanism linking stress with breast and prostate cancer, confounding is the parsimonious explanation of these findings. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
AB - We investigate the association between psychological stress and breast cancer and, as oestrogen may provide a common mechanism, the association between stress and prostate cancer. A prospective study of 991 women and 5743 men employed in Scotland in the 1970s provided data. Risk exposure was measured by questionnaire and physical examination, routine data collection provided cancer outcomes over the subsequent 30 years. There was weak evidence of elevated incidences in those reporting moderate (breast cancer: hazard ratio [HR] 2.16, 95% CI 1.00-4.71; prostate cancer: HR 1.65, 95% Cl 1.20-2.27) and high stress (breast cancer: HR 1.92, 95% CI 0.81-4.55; prostate cancer: HR 1.35, 95% CI 0.872.10) compared to those reporting low stress. These estimates are adjusted for socioeconomic circumstances and health-related behaviours. With no dose-response relationship and no established mechanism linking stress with breast and prostate cancer, confounding is the parsimonious explanation of these findings. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
KW - Scotland
KW - socioeconomic factors
KW - prospective studies
KW - mortality
KW - stress, psychological
KW - prostatic neoplasms
KW - breast neoplasms
U2 - 10.1016/j.ejca.2007.01.027
DO - 10.1016/j.ejca.2007.01.027
M3 - Article
C2 - 17336053
SN - 1879-0852
SN - 1879-2995
VL - 43
SP - 1060
EP - 1065
JO - European Journal of Cancer
JF - European Journal of Cancer
IS - 6
ER -