LONDON (Reuters) - Stressful events such as divorce or the death or illness of a loved one do not lead to a recurrence of breast cancer, British psychologists said on Friday.

It is a widely held belief that stress contributes to the disease and women diagnosed with illness or those whose cancer returns often blame terrible events in their lives for triggering the illness.

But researchers at the charity Cancer Research UK said a study of 222 breast cancer patients did not find any evidence of a link between stress and a return of the cancer.

"This is really good news. Women can be relieved of their fears that if something terrible happens to them that their cancer will return," said Jill Graham, a health psychologist at the research charity.

Graham and a team of scientists questioned the women about stressful events in their lives in the year before they were diagnosed with breast cancer and five years afterwards.

They were not concerned about the usual trials and tribulations they experienced daily but focused on major events including serious financial problems, the collapse of a marriage, discovery of an infidelity or the loss of a child or husband.

Rather than contributing to a relapse they found the opposite occurred.

"Women who had one or more severely stressful life experiences after diagnosis had a lower risk of recurrence than those who did not," Graham said in the research published in the British Medical Journal.

The results contradict the findings of an earlier study that showed stress could increase the risk of a recurrence.

Graham said her prospective study was larger, had a long follow-up up period and used different research methods that could explain the conflicting results.

Fifty-four women in the women in the study experienced a recurrence. Up to a third of women with operable breast cancer will have a recurrence of their disease within five years of it being diagnosed, according to Graham.

The size and grade of the tumour and whether or not it has spread beyond the breast to the lymph nodes are factors that influence recurrence.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. One million women develop the disease worldwide each year. Early detection and treatment increase the chances of surviving the illness.

Women are advised to check their breasts to detect changes or lumps that could be indications of the disease. Most breast lumps are not cancerous.

Reference Source 89

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