There's no definitive evidence that stress can cause cancer or trigger a recurrence. She points to a recent issue of The Lancet which examined 70 studies that looked at stressful life events, particularly loss events, distress level, psychological problems, coping styles and personality factors. The researchers concluded that "there is no psychological factor for which an influence on cancer development has been convincingly shown." However, they acknowledged that they couldn't totally dismiss factors like helplessness and repression which seemed to "contribute to an unfavorable prognosis, while denial or minimizing seemed associated with a favorable one."

Blaming your cancer on your inability to cope well with stress is a highly detrimental guilt trip that will only make you feel worse psychologically. There's no evidence to support that life stressors, such as caring for an ill relative, having an overbearing boss, an abusive .relationship or financial difficulties, will cause you to develop cancer, or affect your survival or the recurrence of the disease. In fact, say the authors of The Lancet article, such thinking in it can be harmful. "For instance, the idea that showing a fighting spirit contributes to cure can lead to some patients feeling the urge to acquire such a coping style, even if this style does not agree with personality. Cancer patients who attributed having cancer to psychological factors... are more distressed and less hopeful than other patients."

Not only can scientists find no link between stress and cancer but, according to a study in a recent issue of the British Medical Journal higher levels of everyday stress can be breast cancer-protective. It found that chronic daily stress may actually impair the synthesis of estrogen, mitigating the hormone's effect in causing breast cancer and lowering incidence of the disease in highly stressed women.


Not so, "For example, there is no evidence of an increased incidence of the more common cancers like breast, lung, or colon cancer in transplant patients being treated with immune suppression drugs or patients with AIDS, whose immune systems are already depressed as a result of the disease. And while chemotherapy lowers the immune system, it actually cures many cancers."

What really concerns is the temptation for cancer patients to take naturopathic compounds or other herbal supplements touted as immune system boosters. "Some of these medications may contain estrogen-like compounds that can interfere with hormone therapy; others can negatively affect the activity of treatments like chemotherapy and radiation." It has been shown, for e.g., those very high doses of vitamin C actually because cancer cells to grow. It’s hard to know "what ingredients are contained in these preparations and in what concentrations they are present as these are not government regulated."

The message: Don't rely on supplements. Eating whole foods provides a broad range of nutrients and decreases the likelihood of consuming dangerously high levels of any nutrient.


Wrong, the first step is to identify aspects of your lifestyle that increase your risk, like smoking, which is responsible for causing about a third of all cancer deaths. A recent study found that many smokers substantially underestimate the danger of their habit. Only 23 per cent knew that smoking increases lung cancer risk by more than 10 times. Smokers who quit before age 50 cut their risk of dying from cancer during the next 15 years in half." The other major risk factor for cancer is the combination of unhealthy diet, overweight, and physical inactivity. Together, these risks account for about one-third of fatal cancers. "Most people know that being overweight or obese increases their risk of diabetes and heart disease, but very few are aware that it increases their risk of developing cancers."

Evidence increasingly links obesity to cancer, including lymphoma, myeloma, and tumors of the breast, colon, esophagus, gallbladder, kidney, liver, pancreas, and uterus. Excess weight increases levels of insulin, which may fuel colon, pancreatic, and prostate cancer, and of estrogen, linked to breast and endometrial cancer. And excess energy intake from food may fuel the growth of several cancers.

Lasting weight loss requires not only diet control but also increased physical activity - at least 30 minutes most days of the week. Exercise may help prevent cancer in other ways as well. For example, its ability to lower the insulin level and speed wastes through the gut may reduce colon-cancer risk. And by controlling hormone levels, it may protect against breast and prostate cancer.


The reality is that age itself does not preclude good cancer treatment. The treatment decisions should be based on a number of factors, including the patient's physical robustness, other illnesses, anticipated active life expectancy, the natural pattern of growth and inherent danger of the cancer, and the likely impact of treatment. "Patients in their 80s or older, who are in good physical shape and who have family histories of longevity, may well benefit from careful selection of surgery, radiotherapy, or chemotherapy for a malignancy that threatens to cut short their lives. "The key is to receive multi-disciplinary care."


Several screening tests are life-saving. The Pap test has helped countless women survive cervical cancer. Mammography can prevent between one-fourth to one-third of deaths from breast cancer by finding tumors when they are smaller and less likely to have spread. Colon cancer screening could prevent more than half of all deaths from this disease because it finds cancers when they are still small and curable. It also detects precancerous polyps that are easily removed before a cancer is fully formed. Ask your doctor about which screening tests are appropriate for someone your age. If you have a strong family history of some cancers, such as breast, ovarian, and colon, you may need special screening tests or procedures to decrease your risk. Many cancers are curable, particularly when diagnosed at an early stage.

The flip side of the coin is to avoid needless imaging tests, because high doses of radiation are itself a risk factor for cancer. Tell your doctor and dentist you don't want X-rays or CT scans unless they're truly warranted. For example, individuals who've had only minimal gum or tooth problems can get "bite-wing" X-rays every two to three years instead of annually. And such imaging tests are unnecessary for most people with routine back pain.

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