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Adverse childhood experiences, breast cancer, and psychotherapy

Expériences de vie précoces traumatiques, cancer du sein et psychothérapie

  • Original Article / Article Original
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Psycho-Oncologie

Abstract

This study is based on 14 women’s breast cancer autobiographies that mention adverse childhood experiences. Recent research has established that early trauma tends to be associated with long-lasting physiological deregulations such as an overactive fight-or-flight response and a weakened immune competence. Stress hormones, such as cortisol, play a crucial role in tumor genesis, therefore, a relationship between adverse childhood events and breast cancer can be hypothesized. However, successful psychotherapy combining a somatic technique and a talking cure can reverse the harmful effects of early adverse experiences through the epigenetic route.

Résumé

Cette étude est fondée sur 14 récits autobiographiques de femmes ayant un cancer du sein. Ces dernières mentionnent des expériences de vie précoces traumatiques. Des recherches récentes ont établi que les traumas précoces tendent à être associés à des dérégulations durables telles qu’une hyperactivité du système attaque–fuite et un affaiblissement des compétences immunitaires. Les hormones du stress telles le cortisol jouent un rôle crucial dans la genèse des tumeurs, par conséquent, on peut faire l’hypothèse d’un lien entre les événements de vie précoces traumatiques et le cancer du sein. Toutefois, le recours à des interventions psychothérapeutiques, associant technique corporelle et cure par la parole, pourrait potentiellement neutraliser les effets néfastes des traumas précoces par la voie épigénétique.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Professeur agrégée (anglais) pôle LANSAD, université de Strasbourg, 4, rue Blaise-Pascal, F-67081, Strasbourg, France

    C. -A. Wendling

  2. Chercheur associé au centre de recherche psychanalyse, médecine et société, université Paris-VII Diderot, 5, rue Thomas-Mann, F-75013, Paris, France

    C. -A. Wendling

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Correspondence to C. -A. Wendling.

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Wendling, C.A. Adverse childhood experiences, breast cancer, and psychotherapy. Psycho Oncologie 10, 221–226 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11839-016-0588-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11839-016-0588-9

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