Logo image
Back
Hope is linked with more favorable tumor molecular signatures in serous ovarian cancer
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Hope is linked with more favorable tumor molecular signatures in serous ovarian cancer

Susan K. Lutgendorf, Benjamin W. Corn, Premal H. Thaker, Michael J. Goodheart, Frank J. Penedo, Anil K. Sood and Steven W. Cole
Brain, behavior, and immunity, Vol.139, 107001
09/08/2026
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2026.107001
PMID: 42710689

View Online

Abstract

•Hope has been associated with better quality of life and survival in cancer.•Links between hope and molecular signatures of serous ovarian tumors were studied.•Hope is associated with tumor gene expression profiles indicating reduced epithelial-mesenchymal transition and inflammation.•Hope is associated with increased activity of a transcription factor promoting cellular immunity. Hope has been associated with improved quality of life and lower mortality in cancer, but the underlying biological mechanisms are poorly characterized. We previously reported that hope was associated with less inflammation and more normalized diurnal cortisol pre-treatment among women with ovarian cancer. We also reported associations of socio-environmental factors with pro-metastatic processes. Here, we used genome-wide transcriptional profiling to quantify associations between hope and tumor molecular signatures reflecting invasiveness, inflammation, and cellular immunity. Participants were 74 women with serous ovarian cancer who provided demographic information and completed surveys pre-surgery. Hope was assessed using a face-valid item from the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Depression was assessed using the full CES-D without the hope item. Illumina HT12 microarrays were used to assay tumor RNA, and associations between hope and tumor gene expression were quantified, adjusting for depression, age, BMI, grade, and stage. Adjusting for covariates, hope was associated with multiple favorable differences in RNA expression, including lower levels of mesenchymal differentiation (p = 0.008) and pro-inflammatory gene regulation (NF-κB: p < 0.001; IRF1: p = 0.024; STAT: p = 0.018), elevated epithelial differentiation (p = 0.011), and elevated activity of the IRF7 transcription factor which promotes cellular immunity (p = 0.016). These data suggest that hope is associated with an ovarian tumor gene expression profile characterized by reduced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and inflammatory activity, and increased activity of a transcription factor promoting cellular immunity. These findings highlight potential biological implications of a resilience factor such as hope, but need replication with more robust assessments of hope.
 Inflammation Ovarian Cancer Epithelial mesenchymal transition Hope NF-κB Positive psychology Resilience

Details

Metrics

5 Record Views
Logo image