INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer is associated with stress that can affect patients’ cellular immunity. Perceived health competence (PHC) is considered one of the most important personal traits studied in cancer and has been shown to affect the psychological and immunological status of breast cancer patients. The aims of the research are to study PHC traits in breast cancer patients compared to healthy subjects, and to explore the correlation between PHC with plasma ACTH, serum cortisol levels, and immunity (blood CD56+ NK cells and CD19+ B cell counts). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A case-control study recruited breast cancer patients presenting to the Department of Clinical Oncology, Kasr-Elaini, Cairo University and age-matched healthy women during the period from January 2023 and April 2023. Cases and controls were invited to complete the PHC scale, and peripheral blood samples were collected to measure cortisol, ACTH, NK cell%, and B cell% using ELIZA and flowcytometry techniques. RESULTS: A total of 30 breast cancer patients and 26 age-matched controls (51.40 + 8.24 years old) were recruited. Breast cancer patients had higher PHC and lower B cell% than healthy controls. PHC had a positive correlation with cortisol, ACTH, and NK cell% and a negative correlation with B cell%. Cortisol and ACTH can mediate the correlation between PHC and immunity. CONCLUSIONS: Cortisol and ACTH can mediate the correlation between PHC and B cell% and NK cell%.
El-Baiomy et al. (Sun,) studied this question.