Resetting your body clock could help fight breast cancer, study finds
A new study in mice suggests that fixing disrupted body rhythms—basically, getting your internal clock back on track—can actually shrink breast tumors.
Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory found that tumors mess with hormones tied to our daily cycles within just a few days, which throws off how the brain and body communicate.
Tumors mess with your rhythm—and your immune system
Turns out, these tumors don't just grow quietly; they actively disrupt brain-body rhythms and weaken anti-tumor immunity.
The scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory used targeted stimulation (no drugs involved) right before the usual "lights out" time to reset hormone cycles.
This boosted key immune cells inside tumors and slowed down their growth—but only when timed perfectly.
Why it matters
This research hints that keeping our circadian rhythms healthy could be a powerful tool against cancer—at least in mice, and possibly for people in the future.
The team is now digging deeper into how exactly tumors pull off this disruption, hoping it leads to better treatments down the line.