Breast Cancer Disrupts Stress Hormone Rhythms in the Brain

Breast cancer disrupts stress hormone rhythms in the brain

"The brain is an exquisite sensor of what's going on in your body," says Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Assistant Professor Jeremy Borniger. "But it requires balance. Neurons need to be active or inactive at the right times. If that rhythm goes out of sync even a little bit, it can change the function of the entire brain."

Cancer Disrupts the Brain’s Internal Clock

Breast cancer can rapidly derail the brain’s day-night regulation of stress hormones, even before tumors are detectable. In mice, the disease flattens normal corticosterone rhythms by altering hypothalamic neuron activity, which may worsen outcomes and mimic symptoms often seen in cancer patients, such as insomnia and anxiety.