What is the Impact of Stress on the Immune Response to Breast Cancer? My report covers the study of the “Impact of Stress on Immune Response of Breast Cancer Women After Mastectomy” conducted by the American Journal of Nursing Science. The study was conducted to examine whether stress influences immune responses in patients following breast cancer diagnosis and surgery. 60 women diagnosed with breast cancer agreed to be part of the study, they were between the ages of 45-55 years old and were scheduled to have a mastectomy. Before beginning their adjuvant therapy, all subjects completed an evaluation involving (1) Stress Assessment Scale (2) Immune Response Assessment Questionnaire. They took a 60-mL blood sample from each patient and subjected it many test including a panel of natural killer (NK) cell and T-lymphocyte assays. They then recorded personal data such as age, sex, level of education, occupation, marital status, monthly income, and their family situation to test the contribution of psychological stress in predicting immune function.
Women who undergo chronic stress, such as the diagnosis and surgical treatment of breast cancer, often experience adjustment difficulties and biologic effects. This stress can affect the immune system, possibly reducing the ability to resist disease progression and metastatic spread.

As stated in the American Journal of Nursing Science “The immune system is important to cancer women in many ways. The cancer can weaken the immune system by invading the bone marrow where the cells that help fight infection are made. This happens most often in leukemia or lymphoma. But it can happen with other cancers too. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy can weaken immunity by causing a drop in the number of white blood cells made in the bone marrow; this effect on the bone marrow is