Cancer Loves Cold Environments, Study Suggests
Most experts agree that a low body temperature is indicative of poor health. Now, new research from Roswell Park Cancer Institute in the US have found that a cold environment allows cancer cells to grow and spread, and could boost several types of cancer such as those affecting the breast, skin, colon, and pancreas.
In an animal study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists looked at the effects of cold temperature in the cancer cells of animal models. They found that mice living in a relatively cold environment, around 22°C, had cancers that grew more quickly and aggressively than those living in warmer environments, around 30°C.
They also found that it didn’t matter if the mice had lived in a cold environment for a lifetime before they got cancer, a chilly exposure even after the development of cancer still made their tumours grow more quickly. Both the cold and comfortable mice had the same numbers of cancer-fighting cells (T cells) when they were healthy. However, the T cells in mice living in comfortable environment were quicker and better at burrowing into the tumour to attack and destroy it, compared to the T cells in cold mice. They also secreted more cancer-fighting substances.
In the tumours of cold mice however, there are greater number of suppressive cells that are capable of shutting down normal immune responses. As a result, the body welcomes the development of cancer, rather than fight it.
New findings challenge therapies and studies
This new research raises interesting questions about cancer therapies and many studies which often use mice as animal models. According to the researchers, most animal research facilities follow the same ‘housing guidelines’ which keep mice at colder-than-comfortable temperatures. This, as their findings suggest, could introduce a systematic bias to animal testing where studies are done in conditions that aren’t entirely relevant, for instance, trying a therapy that boosts immune system on animal models whose immune function was naturally low.
Many cancer patients report suffering deep chills after a treatment. It is possible that growing tumours may induce a ‘cold stress’ that help them survive. Whilst more studies are needed to confirm the new findings, they have important implications for cancer patients and the types of treatment they use. Several small trials had been conducted, such as conducting cancer therapies in sauna-like settings, and found that it improves the body’s response rates to radiation therapy.
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