Abstract C111: Biologic and self-reported stress levels among Latina breast cancer survivors: The Nuevo Amanecer Rural Trial
Authors: Samayoa Cathy , Santoyo-Olsson Jasmine , Márquez-Magaña Leticia , Nápoles Anna M. 
Published: August 2020

Among Latinas, breast cancer is the primary cause of cancer-associated mortality. Latinas experience breast cancer health disparities in disease-free survival, health-related quality of life, pain, fatigue, and anxiety, which may be a result of experiences of chronic stress. Chronic stress can impact the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis, leading to changes in the tumor microenvironment and subsequently facilitate cancer progression. Little is known about the role of stress in cancer health disparities among Latinas. Our aim was to assess the feasibility of biospecimen collection and describe biologic and self-reported levels of stress using baseline data from a randomized controlled trial of a stress-management intervention among Spanish-speaking rural Latina breast cancer survivors (LBCS). We used community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods to recruit women, conduct interviews, and obtain saliva and hair samples. Recruiters were bilingual-bicultural women from local communities working in the community organizations that were research partners. Videos and print materials with graphics were developed in low-literacy Spanish to demonstrate biospecimen collection procedures. Recruiters provided instruction and demonstrations on sample collection and collected self-reported stress and depressive symptoms via in-person interviews in Spanish. Self-reported measures of stress and depressive symptoms consisted of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and Personal Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8). Biologic stress was measured using hair (1 sample) and salivary cortisol (3 samples/day for 3 days). Mean hair cortisol concentration (HCC) in pc/mg units was used to assess chronic stress. The cortisol awakening response (CAR) measure assessed the activity of the HPA axis; curves that demonstrate a cortisol peak 30 minutes after awakening and a cortisol dip bedtime were considered normal. We recruited 103 participants from the Central Valley and Imperial County, California. Eighty-six percent provided saliva samples for CAR analysis, and 53% provided hair samples for HCC. Participants' mean age was 56 years (SD=10.6) and mean time since breast cancer diagnosis was 3.2 years (SD=3.2). Participants reported moderate (PSS mean score = 14.5; SD 7.5) stress levels and mild depression (PHQ-8 mean score = 6.3; SD 5.5). Biologic stress measurements demonstrated that 37% of participants had an abnormal CAR at baseline, and elevated HCC (mean HCC = 362.9 pg/mg). Bivariate models showed no relationship between self-reported and biologic markers of stress. Using CBPR methods leads to successful recruitment of Latinas to clinical research involving biospecimen collection. Although self-reported stress and depression were moderate or mild, biologic stress levels were high and abnormal in over 1/3 of participants, suggesting that chronic stress, and its subsequent integration into the biologic stress pathways, may help explain ethnic disparities in cancer outcomes of LBCS.

Citation Format: Cathy Samayoa, Jasmine Santoyo-Olsson, Leticia Márquez-Magaña, Anna M. Nápoles. Biologic and self-reported stress levels among Latina breast cancer survivors: The Nuevo Amanecer Rural Trial [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr C111.