Sustained stress levels can impact the body's immune system, making it harder to fight off infection. The inability to clear HPV, which is a common sexually transmitted disease, may be a key factor in the emergence of cervical cancer, researchers suspect.

They noted that no link was observed to such highly stressful life events as losing a job or getting a divorce.

Lowered Immune Response

"HPV infection alone is not sufficient to cause cervical cancer," said Fox Chase Cancer Center's Carolyn Y. Fang, PhD. "Most HPV infections in healthy women will disappear spontaneously over time. Only a small percentage will progress to become precancerous cervical lesions or cancer.

"An effective immune response against HPV can lead to viral clearance and resolution of HPV infection," she explained, "but some women are less able to mount an effective immune response to HPV."

Women who had been diagnosed with precancerous cervical lesions completed a questionnaire about stress for the study.

No Link to Traumatic Events

"We were surprised to discover no significant association between the occurrence of major stressful life events and immune response to HPV16," said Fang. "This could be due to the amount of time that has passed since the event occurred and how individuals assess and cope with the event.

"Our findings about subjective daily stress told a different story, however," she said. "Women with higher levels of perceived stress were more likely to have an impaired immune response to HPV16. That means women who report feeling more stressed could be at greater risk of developing cervical cancer because their immune system can't fight off one of the most common viruses that causes it."