Physiological stress reactivity in pediatric cancer survivors treated with chemotherapy
Corresponding Author
Gillian W. White
Translational Medicine Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
Graduate Department of Exercise Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Correspondence
Greg D. Wells, Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada; Translational Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 1×8, Canada.
Email: [email protected]
Gillian W. White and Jessica E. Caterini, Translational Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 1×8, Canada.
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorShawn G. Rhind
Defense Research and Development Canada, Toronto Research Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorPaul C. Nathan
Division of Hematology/Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Jessica E. Caterini
Translational Medicine Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
Queen's Medical School, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Correspondence
Greg D. Wells, Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada; Translational Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 1×8, Canada.
Email: [email protected]
Gillian W. White and Jessica E. Caterini, Translational Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 1×8, Canada.
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorHeather NP Jones
Division of Hematology/Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Greg D. Wells
Translational Medicine Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
Correspondence
Greg D. Wells, Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada; Translational Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 1×8, Canada.
Email: [email protected]
Gillian W. White and Jessica E. Caterini, Translational Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 1×8, Canada.
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Gillian W. White
Translational Medicine Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
Graduate Department of Exercise Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Correspondence
Greg D. Wells, Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada; Translational Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 1×8, Canada.
Email: [email protected]
Gillian W. White and Jessica E. Caterini, Translational Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 1×8, Canada.
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorShawn G. Rhind
Defense Research and Development Canada, Toronto Research Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorPaul C. Nathan
Division of Hematology/Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Jessica E. Caterini
Translational Medicine Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
Queen's Medical School, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Correspondence
Greg D. Wells, Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada; Translational Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 1×8, Canada.
Email: [email protected]
Gillian W. White and Jessica E. Caterini, Translational Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 1×8, Canada.
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorHeather NP Jones
Division of Hematology/Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Greg D. Wells
Translational Medicine Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
Correspondence
Greg D. Wells, Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada; Translational Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 1×8, Canada.
Email: [email protected]
Gillian W. White and Jessica E. Caterini, Translational Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 1×8, Canada.
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Children who experience early life stress demonstrate changes to their stress responses, which may modulate long-term health. Childhood cancer presents significant stress during diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. We hypothesized that children who have completed chemotherapy treatment for ALL will demonstrate altered hormone patterns in response to a stressor compared with healthy controls. Twelve pediatric ALL survivors and 12 healthy controls completed the Trier Social Stress Test. Salivary samples, heart rate, and self-report ratings of stress were collected at baseline, pretest, and posttest. Between group comparison showed baseline (interleukin [IL]-8) was significantly higher in the survivor group versus controls (survivors: 89.9, 40.1–544.9 pg ml–1; controls: 30.7, 5.6–241.9 pg ml–1, p = .001) as was peak (IL-8) (survivors: 147.1, 71.6–1177.6 pg ml–1; controls: 75.5, 28.6–698.6 pg ml–1). Peak salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) concentration was significantly lower in the survivor group (survivors: 69.3, 19.4–195.5 U ml–1; controls: 91.2, 27.7–213.7 U ml–1; p = .04). Repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant main effects for time on cortisol (F(2.35, 50.81) = 5.9, p < .01), sAA (F(1.56, 33.17) = 6.6, p < .01), stress ratings (F(3.42, 88.14) = 53.4, p < .001), and heart rate (F(8, 83) = 16.8, p < .05). Significant main effects for group were observed for IL-8 (F(1, 23) = 8.2, p < .01) and tumor necrosis factor-α (F(1, 23) = 6.8, p < .05). Significant interaction effects for group × time were found for sAA (F(5, 106) = 2.8, p < .05). Our results indicate that childhood ALL survivors have similar responses to stress as healthy controls, but lower sympatho–adrenal–medullary reactivity. Therefore, altered stress regulation may present a pathway modulating long-term health in this population.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.
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