Cancer Survivors Blame
Stress for Their Disease

(HealthScout) -- Breast cancer survivors tend to blame stress for causing their disease and insist that a positive attitude keeps cancer at bay, despite little scientific evidence to support their beliefs, says a new Canadian study.

"It's their way of making a frightening situation understandable and gaining some control over it," contends lead researcher Dr. Donna Stewart, professor and chairwoman of women's health at the University Health Network at the University of Toronto.

While studies have shown that genetics and hormones play a far greater role in causing breast cancer, just 26 percent of the women surveyed attribute the disease to genetics and 24 percent to hormones.

But more than 42 percent of the women say that personal difficulties and accompanying stress led them to develop breast cancer.

Stewart and her research team surveyed nearly 400 Canadian breast cancer survivors who had been disease free an average of nine years. The women were asked what they thought triggered the disease, what prevented its recurrence and what advice they'd have for women newly diagnosed with the disease.

"Women tended to develop personalized attributions for their cancer," Stewart says. "They blamed it on a bad relationship or on bad bosses. I don't think this is misinformation on their part, but it's a way for women to explain it in language they can understand."

Some 60 percent of the women surveyed said having a positive attitude kept their cancer from returning, while 50 percent credited diet and 40 percent credited a healthy lifestyle. (The women could choose more than one reason for being cancer free.) About 26 percent said prayer helped heal them, and 11 percent said they'd found relief in complementary therapies such as massage, visualization or herbs.

Far fewer women said the breast cancer-fighting drug tamoxifen kept them disease-free, although nearly all of them had taken it. In fact, only 4 percent attributed their good health to tamoxifen -- the same percentage that credited luck.

"If I were responding to the survey, tamoxifen would be No. 1 or 2 on my list," Stewart says.

Slightly more than half the survey participants said they would advise women recently diagnosed with breast cancer to keep a positive, hopeful attitude. Findings appear in the March issue of the journal Psycho-Oncology.

The idea that stress causes cancer remains a popular belief among the general public, even though science has found little hard evidence to support the notion.

Stress does increase the hormone cortisol in the bloodstream, which is known to dampen the immune system, but research has not found a direct link between adversity and cancer, says psychologist Frank Baker, director of the American Cancer Society's Behavioral Research Center in Atlanta.

Baker also says he's not surprised that many women think positive thoughts to keep cancer away.

"People diagnosed with cancer experience a radical change in their sense of safety," he says. "They become aware of the limits of time and the limits of their own power. One way to regain that is to look for opportunities to regain some control over what's happening to you."

And if happy thoughts help you cope, dream on, the experts say.

Research has shown that people who believe they can have an impact on the course of a disease are more likely to engage in health-promoting habits such as exercise and eating a low fat diet -- both of which have been linked to overall fitness. And people who have an upbeat attitude are more likely to follow their doctor's advice and stick with conventional treatments.

For example, one study published last fall in the British medical journal The Lancet, found that depressed breast cancer patients are less likely to accept chemotherapy than non-depressed patients, even though the treatment could save their lives.

Other studies have found that cancer patients who attend support groups are more likely to become cancer survivors.

"People who have an enduring source of support in family or friends get more help in dealing with this disease," Baker says. "Maybe it's because they get information on the latest treatment, or they have someone to take them to chemotherapy. It's something I advise for anyone who wants to get through life."

If the sunny side of life helps you get through treatment, keep smiling. It can't hurt, and it might lead you to do the things that really help -- such as adopting a healthier diet and following your doctor's advice. But if the cancer returns, Stewart says, don't blame it on a bad attitude. Cancer is a complicated disease that you can't wish away.

For more information on breast cancer, visit the National Cancer Institute or the American Cancer Society online.

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