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Relationships Between Serum Cortisol, RAGE-Associated s100A8/A9 Levels, and Self-Reported Cancer-Related Distress in
Chloe J Taub1, Alain Diaz, Bonnie B Blomberg
1From the Department of Medical Social Science (Taub), Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois; Department of Microbiology and Immunology (Diaz, Blomberg), University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Jutagir), Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Fisher), Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina; Department of Health Outcomes and Behavior (Gudenkauf), Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida; Department of Oncology and Medicine (Lippman), Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center; Oncology Academic Department (Hudson), Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC; Department of Psychology (Antoni), University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida.
Objective:
Elevated inflammation and psychological distress in patients with breast cancer (BCa) have been related to poorer health outcomes. Regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and signaling of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) are important in the inflammatory response and have been associated with increased stress and poorer health outcomes in patients with cancer. This study examined relationships among circulating cortisol, a measure of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity and physiological stress; s100A8/A9, a RAGE ligand and emerging cancer-related biological measure; and self-reported cancer-related distress.
Methods:
Patients with BCa ( N = 183, stages 0-IIIb) were recruited 2 to 10 weeks after surgery but before receiving adjuvant therapies. Participants provided blood samples, from which serum cortisol and s100A8/A9 levels were determined, and completed a psychosocial questionnaire. Regression analyses, adjusting for age, cancer stage, time since surgery, race, and menopausal status, were conducted examining the relationships between cortisol, s100A8/A9, and cancer-related distress (Impact of Event Scale [IES]-Revised).
Results:
Cortisol and s100A8/A9 levels were positively related ( β = 0.218, t (112) = 2.332, p = .021), although the overall model was not significant. Cortisol levels were also positively associated with IES-Intrusions ( β = 0.192, t (163) = 2.659, p = .009) and IES-Hyperarousal subscale scores ( β = 0.171, t (163) = 2.304, p = .022).
Conclusions:
Patients with higher cortisol levels also reported higher s100A8/A9 levels and more cancer-related distress. The relationship between cortisol and s100A8/A9 supports a link between the stress response and proinflammatory physiological processes known to predict a greater metastatic risk in BCa. Stress processes implicated in cancer biology are complex, and replication and extension of these initial findings are important.
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