Jutagir, D. R., Blomberg, B. B., Carver, C. S., Lechner, S. C., Timpano, K. R., Bouchard, L. C., Gudenkauf, L. M., Jacobs, J. M., Diaz, A., Lutgendorf, S. K., Cole, S. W., Heller, A. S., & Antoni, M. H. (2017). Social well-being is associated with less pro-inflammatory and pro-metastatic gene expression in women after surgery for breast cancer. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 165, 169-180.

Objectives: Satisfaction with social resources or "social well-being" relates to better adaptation and greater duration of survival after breast cancer diagnosis. Biobehavioral mechanisms linking social well-being (SWB) to mental and physical health may involve inflammatory signaling. We tested whether reports of greater SWB were associated with lower levels of pro-inflammatory and pro-metastatic leukocyte gene expression after surgery for early-stage breast cancer.

Design: Women diagnosed with early-stage (0 - III) breast cancer were enrolled 2 - 8 weeks after surgery. The Social/Family Well-Being subscale of the FACT-B assessed SWB. Microarray analysis quantified leukocyte gene expression for specific pro-inflammatory (cytokines, chemokines, and COX-2) and pro-metastatic genes (e.g., MMP-9).

Results: Multiple regression analyses controlling for age, stage of disease, days since surgery, education, and body mass index (BMI) found higher levels of SWB related to less leukocyte pro-inflammatory and pro-metastatic gene expression.

Conclusions: Results have implications for understanding mechanisms linking social resources to health-relevant biological processes in breast cancer patients undergoing primary treatment.

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