Circadian, hormonal, and sleep rhythms: effects on cancer progression implications for treatment

Annemarie D Jagielo; Catherine Benedict; David Spiegel

doi:10.3389/fonc.2023.1269378

Circadian, hormonal, and sleep rhythms: effects on cancer progression implications for treatment

Front Oncol. 2023 Sep 7:13:1269378. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1269378. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Annemarie D Jagielo^{1

2}, Catherine Benedict², David Spiegel²

Affiliations

¹ PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium, Palo Alto University, Palo Alto, CA, United States.
² Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Stanford University, CA, Stanford, CA, United States.

Abstract

Circadian, hormonal, and sleep rhythm disruptions are commonly experienced concerns among cancer patients throughout the cancer care continuum. This review aims to summarize the existing literature on circadian, hormonal, and sleep rhythms in the oncological population, focusing on circadian disruption and physiological and psychological abnormalities, disease progression, and chronomodulated treatment approaches. The findings demonstrate that subjectively and objectively measured circadian rhythm disruption is associated with adverse mental health and disease outcomes in patients with cancer. Chronomodulated chemotherapy, light therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, and physical activity have shown evidence of effectiveness in improving sleep, and occasionally, disease outcomes.

Keywords: cancer; chronotherapeutics; circadian rhythms; cortisol; sleep disturbance.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The authors declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Funds for open access publication fees: The Carl and Elizabeth Naumann Cancer Research Fund Award number: 1089039-100-KHAAP