Work-related stress does not appear to increase the risk of a number of different cancers, including lung and breast cancer, according to a new study.

Stress is known to cause inflammation in the body. Inflammation has been shown to play a role in the development of cancer. Furthermore, people who are stressed are more likely to drink too much alcohol, smoke and be obese, all of which can also increase the risk of cancer.

Only a small number of studies have looked specifically at the potential role work-related stress may play in the development of cancer, however the results have so far been inconclusive.

Scientists from the UK and Finland decided to investigate this further. They carried out a detailed analysis of 12 studies involving 116,000 people from different European countries. All were aged between 17 and 70.

Levels of psychological stress at work were measured and job strain was then divided into four categories:
-High strain job - this referred to people who had high demands placed on them but low control in their job
-Active job - this referred to people who had high demands but also high control
-Passive job - low demands and low control
-Low strain job - low demands but high control.

Cancer data was then analysed. Around 5% of the participants developed cancer during the 12-year follow-up period.

The study found no link between job strain and the overall risk of lung, breast, prostate and colorectal cancer. The scientists believe previous research that suggested such a link may have been due to chance findings.

They insisted that the results provide ‘no evidence for an association between job strain and overall cancer risk'.

They added that while reducing work-related stress would benefit the health of the population as a whole, it more than likely would not affect the number of people developing cancer.

Details of these findings are published in the British Medical Journal.