Mautner, Alison: The Effects of Stress and Alcohol on Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation
Title: The Effects of Stress and Alcohol on Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation
Name: Alison Mautner
Major: Biological Sciences
School affiliation: School of Environmental and Biological Sciences
Programs: George H. Cook Scholars Program
Other contributors: Dipak Sarkar, Benedicte Rousseau, Ajay Palagani
Abstract: “Stressful life events and excessive consumption of alcohol can impact the growth and metastasis of cancer cells in the human body. The central nervous system (CNS) releases epinephrine (more commonly known as adrenaline) from the adrenal medulla in response to stress or other emotions such as fear or anger. In regard to chronic stress and cancer, recent studies have shown that when the body becomes stressed, neurotransmitters such as epinephrine are released, which stimulate cancer cells and reduce their sensitivity to apoptosis through certain pathways. It has also been shown that ethanol exposure may not increase the risk of estrogen receptor negative (ER-) cancer cell strains, in contrast to ER+ strains where ethanol may present an increased risk. This project studies both the effects of ethanol and human epinephrine on MDA-MB-231 cells to investigate if they are direct stimuli for breast cancer cell growth. The results demonstrated that exposure to epinephrine increased cell proliferation, whereas exposure to ethanol, particularly the higher doses, Exposure to a double treatment (epinephrine and ethanol) showed additive effects on cell proliferation. Furthermore, tumor colony assays for epinephrine treatments were performed and results were consistent with those obtained from growth assays. These results identify an interaction between epinephrine (stress) and ethanol exposure on breast cancer cell growth and progression. These data are relevant to women’s health today, due to the prevalence of excessive drinking behaviors and chronic stress in everyday life.
“