Psychologic Stress, Immunity, and Cancer

Why publish an article in a major cancer journal that demonstrates an association between psychologic stress and cellular immune function in cancer patients? The potential interest in articles such as Andersen et al. (1), published in this issue of the Journal, is based on the premise that stress may alter the function of the immune system in a manner that influences the development or growth of malignant tissue. This premise is quite controversial and we use this editorial to discuss its underlying assumptions.