Stress is an unavoidable aspect of life. However, excessive stress can have detrimental effects on our health. Prolonged stress elevates the risk of developing heart disease and experiencing strokes. It may also help cancer spread. How this works has remained a mystery—a challenge for cancer care.
The glucocorticoids released during chronic stress cause neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation and establish a metastasis-promoting microenvironment. Therefore, NETs could be targets for preventing metastatic recurrence in cancer patients.