Author Interviews, Cancer Research, OBGYNE / 27.04.2015
Neuroblastoma Risk May Be Increased by Stress During Pregnancy
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Joanna Kitlinska, PhD
Assistant Professor
Georgetown University Medical Center
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology
Washington, DC 20057
MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Kitlinska: Neuroblastoma is a pediatric tumor which arises due to defects in normal fetal neuronal development. Although the disease is associated with genetic changes, there are also clinical and experimental data implicating non-genetic factors in its etiology. We hypothesized that maternal stress during pregnancy can be one such factor, as it leads to fetal hypoxia and elevated cortisol levels – the two factors known to alter normal neuronal development and increase aggressiveness of neuroblastoma. Indeed, using an animal model of neuroblastoma, we have found that offspring of mothers which have been subjected to stress during pregnancy develop tumors twice as frequently as those from intact pregnancies. Moreover, tumors developing in prenatally-stressed mice were spreading more often to distant organs.
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