Monash Lens Stress is bad, right? It feels bad, and is bad for you. The causes are different for everyone. But how exactly does stress – and nerves – relate to a chronic illness such as cancer? Erica Sloan Associate Professor, Drug Discovery Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Monash University’s Associate Professor Erica Sloan, a scientist who specialises in cancer biology and neuro-immunology – how nerves talk to immune cells – began digging into this question 15 years ago, and is now able to say she’s getting much closer to the answers. Those answers involve all these things – nerves, cells, the immune system, bodily organs, and also the ancient physiological phenomena known as the “fight or flight” response, or stress response.