A new study funded by the National Cancer Institute reports that social support and other behavioral factors are related to levels of a circulating protein, which at high levels is associated with a poor prognosis in advanced ovarian cancer.
The study, published in the July 15, 2005 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, reports that factors that improved quality life, such as social support, were associated with low levels of a protein released by both immune cells and tumor cells, called interleukin 6 (IL-6). In contrast, negative quality of life factors were associated with higher IL-6 levels.
The study is the first to find this association both in the peripheral blood and in the vicinity of the tumor.
IL-6 is an inflammatory cytokine that in healthy young people is almost undetectable. Levels of IL-6 increase with age, chronic psychological stress, and disease. Previous studies in humans and laboratory animals have shown IL-6 levels are also influenced by behavioral factors.
IL-6 has previously been shown to promote tumor growth, and IL-6 levels are also prognostic in ovarian cancer, with elevated levels associated with higher mortality and metastatic disease. Because depression and chronic stress are commonly associated with ovarian cancer, and IL-6 levels are responsive to psychosocial factors, Erin S. Costanzo, M.A. from the University of Iowa and colleagues investigated whether IL-6 levels were linked to psychosocial factors in 61 women with advanced ovarian cancer.