Writings
19 December 2023
Vol. 34 No. 3 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.4081/rp.2023.796

The perinatal period as a delicate time of transition. The possible implications of maternal stress in relation to cancer onset in intrauterine life

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Carcinogenesis, experiential background, pregnancy, stress, emotional selfregulation, DNA methylation
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Cristi Marcí
cristimarci@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2976-6443
Riza Institute of Psychosomatic Medicine, Milan, Italy.

The perinatal period represents not only a transitional phase but a set of processes with respect to which both mother and child, whom she carries in her womb, are exposed to a series of factors capable of bringing about significant morphological and epigenetic changes. While these are, on the one hand, promoters of neurobiological and psychic changes, on the other, they confirm the presence of a real intrauterine exchange which, depending on the mother’s background, is capable of translating into neurochemical baggage ready to be transmitted to the fetus. In fact, while the latter, from a genetic point of view inherits a parental heritage, vice versa from an epigenetic point of view it will acquire a morphological and behavioral framework correlated with a future adaptive and/or dysfunctional mode of expression. Maternal health therefore reflects a psychic and biological condition which, during pregnancy, can bring about considerable changes in the fetus as a reflection of its own way of being in the world. Therefore, the presence of a dysfunctional emotional self-regulation mode in pregnancy, if cumulative, can lead in the long term to the onset of a chronic and/or repetitive stress condition, which risks affecting at a biological level an internal portion of chromatin and more specifically the length of telomeres. These consequently affect the possible increase in DNA methylation related to the possible onset of carcinogenesis.

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The perinatal period as a delicate time of transition. The possible implications of maternal stress in relation to cancer onset in intrauterine life. (2023). Ricerca Psicoanalitica, 34(3). https://doi.org/10.4081/rp.2023.796
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