Can stress hormones facilitate breast to brain metastasis?

As part of this study, an aspect of long-term research on the relationship between stress and cancer, Dr Melanie Flint is running Next Generation Sequencing on brain cells co-cultured with cancer spheroids in the presence/absence of glucocorticoids and glucocorticoid blocker (which can cross the blood brain barrier).

Breast cancer spreads to the brain, bone and lung, resulting in high mortality. Disruption of the immune system is a key contributing factor and is highly responsive to stress hormones, e.g., the glucocorticoid, cortisol, but the mechanisms are unknown. We aim to determine the effects of stress hormones such as cortisol on anti-tumour immunity and determine how stress hormone receptor antagonism affects cancer metastasis and anti-tumour immunity. Using novel cancer/immune co-cultures and in vivo models, the effects of cortisol and GR antagonists (including relacorilant), will be examined.