Stress as a Factor Stimulating Cancer Progression and Metastasis and Increasing Cancer Mortality

The mechanisms stimulating tumor progression are distinct from those responsible for initiation. This fact may underlie the fact that while the relationship between stress and tumor initiation is still controversial in humans, the stimulatory effect of stress on tumor growth is supported by a relatively large body of evidence, including data from clinical studies. Meanwhile, the mechanisms underlying this relationship are gradually being characterized in increasing detail (Fife et al. 1996; Lutgendorf and Sood 2011; Eckerling et al. 2021; Yan et al. 2023).