Kennedy B, et al. – The link between stress resilience in adolescence and subsequent cancer risk, was investigated in a nationwide cohort study. It was concluded that adolescent stress resilience constitutes a crucial determinant of adult cancer occurrence, plausibly by affecting behavioural choices and social patterns. Therefore, increased awareness of long–term consequences in susceptible individuals may help direct future efforts to reduce cancer burden in adults.

Methods

• Researchers performed a nationwide cohort study to assess the link between stress resilience in adolescence and subsequent cancer risk.
• They identified a cohort of 284 257 Swedish men, born 1952–1956, who underwent compulsory military enlistment examinations including measures of psychological stress resilience (median age 18 years).
• In addition, the resulting score was categorised as low, moderate and high stress resilience.
• Individuals diagnosed with cancer during the follow-up time were identified through data linkage to the Swedish Cancer Register.

Results

• Findings demonstrated that lowest stress resilience, compared with the highest, was associated with increased risks of liver (HR: 4.73, 95% CI 2.73 to 8.19) and lung (HR: 2.75, 95% CI 2.02 to 3.74) cancer after adjusting for markers of socioeconomic circumstances in childhood (p for trend <0.001 for both cancer types).
• Data also revealed that further adjustment for cognitive and physical fitness at conscription assessment had a marginal influence.
• In contrast, researchers observed that men with low stress resilience had a decreased risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer (HR: 0.65, 95% CI 0.56 to 0.76) and malignant melanoma (HR: 0.65, 95% CI 0.55 to 0.76).