The Impact of Chronic Stress on Treatment Outcomes of Cancer Patients with Divergent Survival Rates: A Systematic Review

TL;DR

This review examines how chronic stress affects cancer treatment outcomes, especially in cancers with different survival rates, and highlights the role of stress-mitigating interventions.

Contribution

The study provides a survival-informed synthesis of stress biology across cancer types and identifies targetable pathways for future research.

Findings

Chronic stress activates neuroendocrine and immune mechanisms linked to cancer progression in pancreatic and ovarian cancers.

Psychotherapeutic interventions reduce stress-related biological responses and may improve treatment outcomes.

The review highlights evidence gaps and the need to integrate psychological care into oncological practice.

Abstract

This systematic review investigates the impact of chronic stress on treatment outcomes among cancer patients with divergent survival rates, focusing on breast, prostate, pancreatic, and ovarian cancers. The analysis explores how chronic stress influences molecular pathways and tumor progression while comparing cancers with five-year survival rates above and below 50%. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed and Scopus for studies published between 2014 and 2025 using combinations of keywords related to “chronic stress,” “psychological stress,” “psychotherapy,” and selected cancer types. All studies met the inclusion criteria according to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Evidence suggests that chronic stress is associated with the activation of neuroendocrine and immune mechanisms, including β-adrenergic and glucocorticoid signaling. These multifactorial processes are associated with disease progression and survival, particularly in pancreatic and ovarian cancers; however, these links remain primarily associative rather than causative. Conversely, psychotherapeutic interventions alleviate stress-related biological responses, improve quality of life, and may indirectly enhance therapeutic efficacy. By structuring the evidence around cancers with higher versus lower five-year survival, our review provides a survival informed synthesis of cancer type specific stress biology and stress-mitigating interventions, highlighting potentially targetable pathways and clear evidence gaps for future trials. The findings underscore the need to integrate psychological care into oncological practice to improve overall outcomes.

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