2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Involvement of the HPA axis in the relationship between the psychological stress and cancer development.

Research Project

Project/Area Number	24700756
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Applied health science
Research Institution	Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine
Principal Investigator	WATANABE Eri 京都府立医科大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 助教 (20433253)
Project Period (FY)	2012-04-01 – 2014-03-31
Keywords	HPA経路 / 精神的ストレス / がん発症・進展 / 糖質コルチコイド / がん発症遺伝子 / GCR / 腫瘍細胞 / フィードバック機能
Research Abstract	Cancers are the leading cause of death in Japan. It is widely considered that psychological stress is one of the important factors that affect carcinogenesis, but the molecular mechanisms underlying the causal relationship remain poorly understood. In this study, we examined whether the HPA axis that plays important roles in psychological stress may have impact on tumor cell growth. As results, cortisol, the serum level of which is elevated upon psychological stress, significantly promoted the growth of tumor cells including human stomach, colon, uterus, mammary, and lung cancers, while environmental conditions such as hypoxia also affected the growth rates of the tumors. The present study suggests that the psychological stress may cause cancer development and progression through the HPA pathway.