Explain a potential reason as to why a group of patients with cancer (who consistently listened to opera music) lived longer than a matched control group with cancer who did not listen to opera

This is a question to test outside the box science thinking. Firstly, the key difference between the control (C) and intervention (I) groups is the fact that the I group listened to opera music. Thinking about this biologically, think about the impact that this opera music may have on the patients. This kind of music is known to relax and soothe, the impact of this on patients (if they listened to it frequently) could be to potentially de-stress them. Reducing the stress response - a hormonal mechanism - could potentially lead to a shift in the balance of hormones that affects the tumour at a cellular level via an epigenetic mechanism. This could then lead to the activation of tumour suppressor genes (TSGs) and the inactivation of oncogenes - potentially leading to a reduction in rate of tumour growth. This could help prolong survival.The aim of this question is not necessarily to know pure scientific fact, more to use current A-Level biology knowledge to come up with a reasonable answer. It is about thinking laterally, rather than being spoon-fed the answer through a focused question.