Stress and cancer

I have had a really stressful time over the past few weeks and have just been diagnosed with small cell carcinoma in my lung. I have not smoked for 37 years. Could the cancer be due to stress?

We are sorry you have had a difficult time. It is now widely recognised that stress plays a part in illness. But no one really knows how much of a part stress plays in cancer. There is currently no good evidence from controlled studies that stress leads to an increased risk of cancer. Stress might have an effect on our risk of disease by making us more likely to take part in unhealthy behaviours, such as smoking and drinking.

Stress may also damp down our bodies' immune response and make us more likely to get ill. There is information about stress and the immune system in our section on the immune system.

It is unlikely that a cancer could have developed completely in a few weeks. Most cancers take a few years to become big enough to show up on tests or cause symptoms. It may be that there were cancer cells in your lung for a while. It is not possible to know whether the added stress in your life could have affected your immune system, allowing the cancer to grow and spread more easily.

Part of the difficulty in coping with a diagnosis of cancer is not knowing exactly what caused it. There are usually a number of causes working together, including your particular genetic make up and any environmental factors you have come into contact with.

It is not possible to say how much smoking has played a part in your cancer. It is true that most lung cancers are linked to smoking. But some non smokers do get lung cancer. Statistically, giving up smoking 37 years ago should have reduced your risk to the same as a non smoker. But statistics can't tell us exactly what will happen in your life. They only indicate a general trend amongst a large population of people.