Analysis of the Cortisol Diurnal Rhythmicity and Cortisol Reactivity in Long-Term Breast Cancer Survivors

Figures & data

Figure 1.  Overview of the time-line of the Trier Social Stress Test procedure.

Figure 2.  Diurnal cortisol profiles of breast cancer survivors and women in the control group.

Figure 3.  Comparison of cortisol reactivity during the Trier Social Stress Test between breast cancer survivors and women in the control group.

Figure 4.  Subjective levels of stress during the Trier Social Stress Test of breast cancer survivors and women in the control group.

Figure 5.  Cortisol reactivity profiles during the Trier Social Stress Test as a function of time since diagnosis.

Figure 6.  Subjective levels of stress during the Trier Social Stress Test as a function of time since diagnosis.

Table 1.  Demographic characteristics of the breast cancer and control groups.

Demographic characteristics	Breast cancer survivors (n = 22)	Control group (n = 25)
Mean age ± standard deviation (years)	59 ± 10	57 ± 11
Age range (years)	39–81	29–71
Postmenopausal status ethnicity (%)	83	64
– Caucasian	91	88
– Black	–	4
– Asian	–	8
– First Nations	9	–
Marital status (%):
– Single	9	8
– Married/civil union/common law	68	56
– Separated/divorced	18	28
– Widowed	5	8
Highest level of education (%):
– High school	27	32
– College	18	16
– Bachelor’s degree	50	28
– Master’s degree	5	20
– Doctoral degree	–	4
Employment status (%):
– Blue collar	–	8
– White collar	50	24
– Self-employed	4	16
– Homemaker	14	–
– Medical leave of absence	–	4
– Retired	32	48
Family income (%):
– Under US$40,000	15	22
– US$40,000–99,999	60	52
– US$100,000–199,999	25	26

Table 2.  Medical characteristics of the breast cancer group.

Medical characteristics	Breast cancer survivors (n = 22)
Mean age at diagnosis ± standard deviation (years)	54 ± 9
Age range (years)	36–76
Mean time since diagnosis ± SD (years)	4.6 ± 3
Time since diagnosis range (years)	1.2–11.8
Breast cancer stage (%):
– 0	18
– 1	45
– 2	23
– 3	14
Type of surgery (%):
– Unilateral mastectomy	27
– Bilateral mastectomy	32
– Lumpectomy	41
Chemotherapy treatment (%):
– Yes	46
– No	54
Hormone therapy (%):
– Yes	64
– No	36
Radiation therapy (%):
– Yes	64
– No	36

Table 3.  Average ± standard deviation collection time of diurnal saliva samples in each group.

Saliva collection time	Breast cancer survivors (time of day)		Control group (time of day)
	Day 1	Day 2	Day 1	Day 2
Waking	6:53 ± 1.1 h	6:49 ± 1.0 h	7:10 ± 1.2 h	7:17 ± 1.4 h
30 min after waking	7:25 ± 1.2 h	7:22 ± 1.0 h	7:43 ± 1.2 h	7:44 ± 1.4 h
12h00	12:07 ± 0.2 h	12:08 ± 0.2 h	12:06 ± 0.2 h	12:16 ± 0.6 h
16h00	15:41 ± 2.6 h	15:49 ± 2.8 h	16:09 ± 0.6 h	16:14 ± 0.5 h
21h00	20:49 ± 2.6 h	21:09 ± 0.3 h	21:05 ± 0.5 h	21:14 ± 0.5 h

No significant differences were found between collection time of breast cancer survivors and women in the control group at each time point on each day (p-value ranged from 0.199 to 0.731).