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Effects of life event stress and social support on the odds of a ≥2 cm breast cancer

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Abstract

Objective

To examine the contribution of life event and social support factors to diagnosis with a ≥2 cm breast cancer.

Methods

We studied 1,459 Australian women aged 40–69 diagnosed in 2002–2003 with a first primary invasive breast cancer 1.1 cm or larger. We measured stressful life events, perceived stress levels, and social support in the year before diagnosis and collected information on other potential risk factors and confounders.

Results

The odds of a ≥2 cm breast cancer relative to a 1.1–1.9 cm breast cancer were reduced in women who reported tension or change in an intimate relationship in the year before diagnosis (OR = 0.71 95% CI 0.54–0.92; p = 0.009); the reduction was greatest in women living with a partner (OR = 0.64 95% CI 0.47–0.88; p = 0.006) and was largely unaffected by adjustment for other variables independently associated with a ≥2 cm breast cancer in our study. There was no evidence that the total number or severity of all studied life events influenced cancer size. Low partner support increased the odds of a ≥2 cm cancer but only in women not living with a partner.

Conclusion

Intimate relationship stress may reduce risk of a ≥2 cm breast cancer. Suppression by stress of estrogen synthesis and metabolism is a possible mechanism.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this work was provided by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Project Grant No. 197801; Bruce Armstrong’s research is supported by a University of Sydney Medical Foundation program grant. We gratefully acknowledge the individuals who participated in the research, the clinicians who gave permission for us to approach their patients, Professor Beth Newman and Sheree Harrison for data collection in Queensland, Associate Professor Dorota Gertig and Sharon Gill in Victoria, Megan Black, Lisa Trotter, and Lucinda Freeman in NSW, and staff at the NSW Central Cancer Registry, Queensland and Victorian Cancer Registries, and the Hunter Valley Research Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Edward Ford Building A27, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Anne Kricker, Chris Goumas & Bruce K. Armstrong

  2. Centre for Medical Psychology and Evidence-Based Decision Making, School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Melanie Price & Phyllis Butow

  3. Anatomical Pathology, Mater Pathology, Mater Health Services, Brisbane, Australia

    Jane E. Armes

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  1. Anne Kricker
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  2. Melanie Price
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  6. Bruce K. Armstrong
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Correspondence to Anne Kricker.

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Kricker, A., Price, M., Butow, P. et al. Effects of life event stress and social support on the odds of a ≥2 cm breast cancer. Cancer Causes Control 20, 437–447 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-008-9257-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-008-9257-z

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