Social stress, coping strategies and tumor development in male mice: Behavioral, neuroendocrine and immunological implications

Summary The relationships between acute social stress, immunological alterations and the development of pulmonary metastases of B16F10 melanoma were analyzed. In particular, the effects of different behavioral coping strategies on the development of the metastases were studied. Tumor bearing and tumor non-bearing mice were subjected for 24 h to a sensory contact social stress model. This included two 5 min sessions of direct social interaction with their resident cagemates (which had been selected for consistent levels of aggression). The subjects' behavior was videotaped and assessed. Corticosterone, IL-2, IL-12 and splenic cell proliferation responses to Con-A were determined 1 h and 3 days post-stress. Lung metastatic foci numbers were determined 21 days after inoculation (15 days post-stress). Social stress increased the number of pulmonary metastases and the serum level of corticosterone but decreased the splenic proliferative capacity. No direct relationship could be established between the development of the metastases and the assayed interleukin response. A combination of cluster and discriminant analyses established that there were three types of coping strategies. Subjects engaging in a strategy characterized by an absence of attack, low non-social exploration levels and high levels of defense, subordination and avoidance, developed most pulmonary metastases. Social stress effects on tumor development appear to depend on the subject's coping strategy in such situations (although one cannot rule out the possibility that differences in the development of the disease per se are responsible for the different behavioral patterns observed).