Predicting Carcinogenicity

There has been an exponential growth in stress research in recent years in relation to health and employment. The formidable methodological problems confronting both epidemiological and psychobiological studies in this area have been amply demonstrated to oncologists in the difficulty of adequately testing hypotheses about the role of stress in carcinogenesis and disease progression. Some of the same methodological problems have hindered adequate investigation of the stress which cancer imposes on care givers, whether family members or professional staff. Given the importance of these latter issues in the practice of oncology it is important that continuing scientific endeavour in studying stress be encouraged.