Beta Blockers may have additional benefit
I’ll try and find more on this but from this morning’s news: Australian researchers have made a major medical breakthrough that could extend the lives of people battling breast cancer.
Scientists ...
Forum Discussion
The study is quite limited at just 64 patients but nevertheless very interesting. A few months prior to my diagnosis I was prescribed propranolol for tachycardia which I took up until a week after my axillary clearance. At the time my GP thought this was the best treatment for my heart palpitations and elevated heart rate. @Afraser, @arpie and @patdug I too hope that there may have been an added benefit for taking it, even though it was for a limited time in my case. As it turned out the tachycardia and heart palpitations were probably more related to anxiety I was suffering from a combination of significant stressful events.
On diagnosis, I questioned my GP, breast surgeon, Oncologist, Radiologist and pretty much anybody I could, enquiring if stress might have been a contributing factor. While it was reiterated that lifestyle factors, genes (in about 5% of cases) and even just ‘bad luck’ can play a role in a cancer diagnosis, my thoughts on the role stress plays were quickly dismissed.
It seems significant to me that:
“research discovered that the ‘fight-or-flight response’ can increase metastasis, helping cancer spread through the body. We harnessed that knowledge by repurposing existing drugs. Our goal was to see if we could stop cancer cells spreading in the body. We found that beta-blockers – which halt the stress response – stopped the cancer invading”.
It will be interesting to see what results future, perhaps larger studies of this nature might reveal. Perhaps stress may be included in ‘lifestyle’ factors? It would be an exciting prospect if there was a supplementary and or alternative to prevent/slow metastasis, particularly for hormone negative sufferers and for those who cannot tolerate tamoxifen/Al’s. It may also provide a little peace of mind for some against reoccurrence? I shall watch this space with interest.
It seems significant to me that:
“research discovered that the ‘fight-or-flight response’ can increase metastasis, helping cancer spread through the body. We harnessed that knowledge by repurposing existing drugs. Our goal was to see if we could stop cancer cells spreading in the body. We found that beta-blockers – which halt the stress response – stopped the cancer invading”.
It will be interesting to see what results future, perhaps larger studies of this nature might reveal. Perhaps stress may be included in ‘lifestyle’ factors? It would be an exciting prospect if there was a supplementary and or alternative to prevent/slow metastasis, particularly for hormone negative sufferers and for those who cannot tolerate tamoxifen/Al’s. It may also provide a little peace of mind for some against reoccurrence? I shall watch this space with interest.