Psychosomatic Medicine 34:295-303 (1972)
© 1972 American Psychosomatic Society

Shock Stress and DMBA-Induced Mammary Tumors

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Address for reprint requests: Dr. B. H. Newberry.

This paper presents four experiments dealing with the effects of long-term electric shock stress on rat mammary tumors induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene. A pilot experiment suggested, contrary to expectations based on Soviet reports, a trend for severe stress to inhibit tumor induction as measured by the number of palpable tumors. A second experiment demonstrated that severe shock stress applied for 85 consecutive days produced a reduction in number of tumors, higher adrenal weights and lower ovary weights relative to controls. Application of the same stress regimen for 40 days also reduced tumor count, while 25-day stress did not significantly influence numbers. In no case did the stressor significantly affect average tumor size.

Note:
^* Deceased.

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