October 2nd 2025
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Riordan Clinic
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By Kirsten West, ND, LAc, FABNO
Stress is a universal experience. Not all stress is harmful, but identifying effective strategies for managing stress can significantly enhance patients’ recovery, long-term outcomes, and prevention of breast cancer. In doing so, patients not only survive but thrive.
The Effects of Chronic Stress
Stress may not directly cause breast cancer, but chronic stress response can promote the progression and spread of existing tumors by weakening the immune system and increasing pro-cancer factors. When people are chronically stressed, they may develop unhealthy coping mechanisms such as poor dietary choices and physical inactivity. This can worsen health issues in breast cancer survivors. By weakening the immune system, stress hormones like the adrenal hormone cortisol reduce the body’s ability to fight cancer cells.
Chronic stress also increases blood vessel growth and can make it easier for cancer cells to spread by creating hospitable environments for tumor cells. This is why stress management strategies are a crucial component of comprehensive cancer care. These may include mindfulness practices or trauma-based therapies, such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) or hypnosis, informed dietary interventions, and tailored exercise programs, which all serve to enhance psychological resilience and physical health.
The stress response also stimulates norepinephrine and epinephrine, two hormones that increase circulating blood sugar. This provides cancer cells with additional energy sources, which may promote tumor growth and survival. We know that implementing dietary modifications, such as reducing glycemic index and increasing nutrient-dense foods, can help mitigate the adverse effects of stress on carcinogenesis (the initiation of cancer), cancer progression by stabilizing blood sugar levels, and enhancing immune function. This highlights the critical need for interventions that stabilize physiological responses to stress.
Defining Stress and Its Effects on the Body and Mind
The current mainstream oncology models primarily focus on how chronic stress affects the advancement of cancer rather than its initial onset. To reduce stress, we must first define it in order to recognize it.
Stress is often the outcome of chronic, disordered psychological and physiological patterns that hinder recovery and contribute to the development of chronic health issues. These patterns often hinge on a trauma response, which can be worsened by environmental stressors, personal expectations, and lifestyle factors. This requires targeted interventions to foster resilience and promote healthier coping mechanisms among cancer survivors (Pekmezi & Demark‐Wahnefried, 2010). Luckily, integrative approaches that blend psychological support with lifestyle interventions have shown promise in reducing stress, resolving trauma, and improving health outcomes among cancer survivors (McCorkle, et al., 2011).
Additional Links Between Stress and Breast Cancer
The link between breast cancer, hormones, and stress is significant. Stress hormones sensitize breast tissue to chemicals our body releases in response to stress. This impacts estrogen activity and detoxification, which influence the development and function of breast tissue. This is why it’s important to avoid xenoestrogens and adopt strategies to decrease exposure to environmental endocrine disruptors that may worsen hormonal imbalances. Examples of xenoestrogens include pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and plasticizers, which can interfere with hormonal pathways and disrupt normal physiological functions. It’s important for patients who are either receiving cancer treatment or are in survivorship to become aware of these toxins and limit exposure to these harmful substances.
Stress Alleviating Strategies
Lifestyle interventions that target stress management and improve dietary intake can significantly enhance the well-being of breast cancer survivors, as these not only alleviate stress but also positively influence overall health outcomes. Integrating lifestyle modifications into whole-person care for breast cancer survivors promotes better mental health, helps to alleviate stress through empowerment, and mitigates the adverse effects of treatment. Structured exercise programs, psychosocial support, and individualized nutritional counseling enhance survivorship programs. This type of true integrative care empowers patients to take control of their health and foster resilience during recovery. Patient-centered, terrain-based care is essential for creating a supportive and individualized environment that takes breast cancer survivors from surviving to thriving.
Thorough terrain assessment is important to create tailored nutrition plans that address a specific patient’s unique needs. These individualized plans ensure that each survivor receives the specific dietary support necessary for optimal recovery, optimal labs, and health maintenance.
Every person is different—testing, assessing, and addressing act as a roadmap for each individual.
Nutrition Approach
When terrain testing has not yet been completed, a low-carb Mediterranean diet is recommended. This dietary approach emphasizes whole foods, healthy fats, and lean proteins, which support metabolic health, optimal weight management, and reduce inflammation while providing the necessary nutrients for recovery. It also promotes cardiovascular health and reduces inflammation, which are critical considerations for cancer survivors at risk for cardiotoxicity due to their treatments.
Mind/Body Therapy
Trauma, and therefore stress, is best helped by mind/body-based therapies that emphasize the connection between emotional well-being and physical health. These therapies support healing by addressing the psychological impacts of trauma while also promoting physiological resilience. Effective tools may include: EMDR, hypnosis, and movement therapy such as yoga. EMDR utilizes rapid eye movements, which are most active in the REM phase of sleep, to help us re-analyze our day and are imperative for memory and learning. If we can hone the brain waves active with REM, we are given the ability to help change how we respond to trauma. The integration of EMDR and other mind/body therapies into cancer care could potentially enhance the psychological resilience of survivors, allowing them to process trauma effectively while creating a holistic approach to recovery that addresses both mental and physical health.
Physical Activity
Stress is also well-managed with physical activity. Regular exercise reduces stress levels, enhances mood, and improves overall health outcomes for cancer survivors. Studies have shown that for breast cancer specifically, 150 minutes of exercise per week can significantly improve physical fitness and reduce fatigue, ultimately leading to a better overall quality of life among survivors. I often tell my patients that a love for the activity is the most crucial element for making it a lasting habit rather than a chore.
Start with Recognition
Understanding the complex nature of stress and its impact on the body’s terrain is essential for developing targeted approaches that effectively address the unique needs of breast cancer survivors as they navigate their recovery journey. Understanding begins with recognition. Unfortunately, the ability to recognize stress is often difficult until it is at or has reached its peak. We must become aware of our inner terrain, how our body speaks through testing, our inner voice, and our inner child. This is where our truth lies, and our capacity to heal is awakened. In so doing, dietary interventions, lifestyle changes, and additional integrative therapies can make a profound impact, and the true changes in breast cancer survivorship are made.
By strengthening the mind/body connection and implementing dietary interventions, lifestyle changes, and other integrative therapies, we can achieve meaningful improvements in survivorship for breast cancer, and ultimately, for all cancers and diseases. It begins with recognition and identifying our unique patterns, such as our predispositions from a lifetime so far lived, and giving ourselves the space to “be.” This is how we heal, not only as individuals but as a society as a whole. Breast cancer becomes the window through which we must see.
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Read the full article here:
https://riordanclinic.org/2025/10/connection-between-stress-breast-cancer/
