Relação entre estresse precoce, fatores psiconeuroimunoendócrinos e o tratamento do câncer de mama

Abstract

Introduction: Early life stress (ELS) has an important role in the response of psychoneuroimmunoendocrine systems and in the face of a situation as a major life stressor event such as the diagnosis of breast cancer, women with a history of childhood maltreatment may react diferente then others. Objective: To investigate the role of stress before its impact within the systems that regulate biological and psychological responses in the treatment of breast cancer. Method: The empirical study was an exploratory and correlational study with women newly diagnosed with breast cancer, where scales and tests were used for behavioral assessment and verification of the history of child maltreatment, as well as collection of peripheral blood To evaluate the expression of inflammatory markers. This dissertation was also composed by a narrative review, with a hypothesis proposal on the accumulation of stress throughout life and outcomes in the treatment of breast cancer. Results: There were 18 newly diagnosed women with breast cancer, mean age 45.2 (8.3). There were no significant differences between the group of patients and the control group, regarding cognitive scores and depression and anxiety. However, as women with breast cancer who score higher on the child abuse assessment scale had more traumatic symptoms, such as avoidance and hypervigilance. Similarly, women with higher traumatic symptoms had lower rates of inflammatory markers, such as IL-2 and IL-4. Conclusion: Women with a history of childhood maltreatment with more extreme traumatic reactions with respect to the impact of breast cancer discovery, as well as lower expression of inflammatory markers. The construction of the hypothesis was important for the data obtained in empirical research, taking into account the psychological and immunological impact in women with breast cancer who have a history of childhood maltreatment.