Did You Know Breast Cancer Spreads At Night?

Breast cancer can spread to other parts of the body. Breast cancer metastasis happens mostly at night when the affected person is asleep.

Breast cancer is one of the most prevent prevalent cancers worldwide. Each year, more than 2 million women are diagnosed the disease. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), breast cancer caused 685, 000 deaths globally in 2020. If breast cancer is detected early when it is in the localized stage, patients usually respond well to treatment. However, it becomes complicated if the cancer has already metastasised, meaning when cancer cells have spread from the breast to other parts of the body.

Breast cancer metastases form more efficiently at night

Metastasis happens when cancer cells break away from the primary tumor in the breast and travel to other parts of the body, mostly to the bones, liver, lungs, and brain. Surprisingly, metastatic breast cancer cells mainly arise while patients are sleeping, as revealed by a study published in the journal Nature last year.

The study, conducted by researchers at ETH Zurich, the University Hospital Basel and the University of Basel, found that the tumour sheds more circulating cancer cells when the organism is asleep. The tumour awakens, when the patient is asleep, they stated.

Additionally, they found that cancer cells that leave the original tumour at night also divide more quickly, and thus they have a higher potential to form metastases than cells that leave the tumour during the day.

Further, the study revealed that the escape of circulating cancer cells from the original tumour is controlled by hormones such as melatonin, which regulates night and day cycles or sleep-wake cycles.

Can breast cancer metastasis be prevented?

Any type of breast cancer can metastasize, and as per the available data, there is no proven way to prevent breast cancer metastasis.

Unfortunately, there is no known cure for metastatic breast cancer. Patients with metastatic breast cancer or stage IV breast cancer are most often treated with hormone therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, or a combination of some of these.

But you can prevent or reduce risk of breast cancer recurrence by ensuring that you stay healthy as far as possible after breast cancer treatment. Control your weight, be physically active, eat well, avoid alcohol and smoke.