Suppression of the innate cancer-killing activity in human granulocytes by stress reaction as a possible mechanism for affecting cancer development

Psychological stress may be linked to cancer incidence; however, more direct evidence is required to support this viewpoint. In this study, we investigated the effects of stress on immunosurveillance against cancer cells using a previously established examination stress model. We showed that the cancer killing activity (CKA) of granulocytes (also known as polymorphic nuclear cells, PMNs) is sharply reduced during examination stress stimulation in some donors who are psychologically sensitive to examination stress, with the concentration of plasma stress hormones (cortisone, epinephrine, and norepinephrine) increasing accordingly. The effects of stress hormones on immune cell CKA were also investigated under two in vitro co-incubation conditions, with all three hormones found to exert inhibitory effects on the CKA of PMNs and mononuclear cells. We showed that stress triggered the release of stress hormones which had profound inhibitory effects on the innate anticancer functions of PMNs. These results provide a possible explanation for the relationship between psychological stress and cancer incidence.