Abstract 2290: Perceived stressfulness of life events impacts breast cancer risk

Abstract

Abstract Background: Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignancy and the second most common cause of cancer mortality among women. Approximately 60% of variability in breast cancer risk remains unexplained. It is imperative to perform further research focusing on identifying preventable risk factors for breast cancer. The relationship between psychological stress and breast cancer risk is unclear. Psychological stress arises when environmental demands are appraised as going beyond one’s coping abilities. Higher perceived stress has been linked to increased cortisol levels and HPA perturbations. The purpose of this study is to understand the relationship between stressfulness appraisal of salient life events and breast cancer risk. Methods: A case-control design was used and included 664 female cases identified through the Cancer Surveillance Program of Orange County, CA and 203 female population-based controls. Participants completed a risk factor questionnaire that included a life event section. Participants were asked to determine if events occurred and if they were considered to be significantly stressful or not. Multivariate unconditional logistic regression was used to calculate ORs while adjusting for known breast cancer covariates. Results: Cumulative adverse life events perceived as stressful were associated with increased breast cancer risk in a dose response fashion (OR=1.63, 95% CI=1.00-2.66, Ptrend=0.045). Conversely, cumulative adverse life events not reported as stressful did not have a significant impact on breast cancer risk (OR=2.04, 95% CI=0.77-5.43). History of personal illness was directly related to increased breast cancer risk, when perceived as stressful (OR=2.84, 95% CI=1.96-4.11) or non-stressful (OR=3.47, 95% CI=1.34-8.94). Interestingly, abortion and relocation were observed to have a protective effect on breast cancer risk only when reported as being stressful (OR=0.54, 95% CI=0.32-0.92; OR=0.63, 95% CI=0.43-0.93 respectively). Conclusions: This study broadens our understanding of the relationship between major life events and breast cancer risk and underscores the importance of stressfulness appraisal. Our results indicate the importance of incorporating assessments of perceived stressfulness in future epidemiological investigations focusing on the assessment of life events and breast cancer risk. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Avital Fischer, Argios Ziogas, Hoda Anton-Culver. Perceived stressfulness of life events impacts breast cancer risk [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2290. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2290