New Method to Manage Stress Responses for More Successful Tumor
Removal Monday, January 30, 2012 TAU-developed drug treatment in
clinical trials may improve the outcome for cancer surgery
patients The week before and two weeks after surgery are a
critical period for the long-term survival rate of cancer
patients. Physiological and psychological stresses caused by the
surgery itself can inhibit the body's immune responses,
heightening vulnerability to tumor progression and spreading.
Now a new clinical trial by Prof. Shamgar Ben-Eliyahu of Tel
Aviv University's School of Psychological Sciences and Dr. Oded
Zmora will combine two medications originally used to treat
excessive stress and inflammatory responses at Israel's Tel
Hashomer Sheba Medical Center. The trial is the culmination of
15 years of research on the connection between the body's stress
responses, immune functions, and tumor metastasis — the process
of cancer cells spreading to new tissue. In pre-clinical studies
on animal models, long-term post-o