Jennifer Bires: Mental Health Impacts Cancer Outcomes
Jennifer Bires, Executive Director of Life with Cancer and Patient Experience for the Inova Schar Cancer Institute, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Mental Health Impacts Cancer Outcomes
We’ve known for some time that psychological stress plays a role in cancer.
But a new study takes that link further — showing how stress hormones can actually initiate and worsen cancer development at the cellular level, especially in those with BRCA1/2 mutations.
Here’s what the study found:
Cortisol (the primary stress hormone) damages DNA in breast epithelial cells
In people with BRCA1/2 mutations, cortisol delays DNA repair
Higher cortisol was associated with higher cancer risk in both women (breast cancer) and men (prostate cancer)
This builds on earlier evidence:
- A meta-analysis of 165 longitudinal studies showed psychosocial factors increase cancer incidence, reduce survival, and raise mortality.
- Another study tracking 163,000 people found those who felt high distress after diagnosis were 32% more likely to die from their cancer.
These aren’t soft statistics. They are biological truths.
So here’s the question:
Why do we continue to treat psychological care as “nice to have” instead of standard of care?
We must stop separating mind from body.
Mental health is not a support service, It is core prevention, especially for high-risk populations.
The infographic below to highlight what the science is telling us
Let’s make psychological support:
- Equitable
- Standard
- Embedded across the continuum of cancer care
Because emotional well-being isn’t extra. It’s medicine.
How is your organization prioritizing mental health in prevention and survivorship?
Let’s share ideas — and challenge the status quo together.”
More posts featuring Jennifer Bires on OncoDaily.
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Challenging the Status Quo in Colorectal Cancer 2024
December 6-8, 2024
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ESMO 2024 Congress
September 13-17, 2024
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ASCO Annual Meeting
May 30 - June 4, 2024
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Yvonne Award 2024
May 31, 2024
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OncoThon 2024, Online
Feb. 15, 2024
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Global Summit on War & Cancer 2023, Online
Dec. 14-16, 2023