A new study finds that stress seems to speed up the progression of severe melanoma, however, some blood pressure drugs can be helpful to slow its progression as well as it can improve patients’ lives quality .

In their tests, the researchers the researchers looked for the levels of some proteins (VEGF, IL-6 and IL-8) in melanoma cells after exposing them to norepinephrine (stress hormone).

The researchers found a considerable increase in the production of these three proteins when they were exposed to stress hormones.  There was a 2000% increase in IL-6 proteins in C8161 cells.

Eric V. Yang, one of the lead authors of the study, says: “Our study reveals that stress can cause worse effect on patients with advanced stage of melanoma by increasing IL-6 levels,”

The researchers also noted that stress hormones seemed to bind to receptors on cancer cells’ surface.

More tests revealed that commonly used blood pressure drugs considerably decrease the production of IL-6 and other proteins in the cancerous cells.

The study has been published in the Journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity February issue. The researchers suggest that prescribed blood pressure drugs may prove effective to slowdown the progression of melanoma.