Chronic threat and anxiety are associated with pro-inflammatory transcriptional profiles in circulating leukocytes, but the causal direction of that relationship has not been established. In a recent study, a 10 week cognitive-behavioral stress management intervention targeting negative affect and cognition counteracted anxiety-related transcriptional alterations in people confronting a major medical threat. The study involved one hundred ninety-nine women undergoing primary treatment of stage 0-III breast cancer. The intervention altered leukocyte expression of 91 genes by >50% at follow-up, including downregulation of pro-inflammatory and metastasis-related genes and upregulation of type I interferon response genes. The researchers concluded that in early-stage breast cancer patients, a 10-week intervention can reverse anxiety-related upregulation of pro-inflammatory gene expression in circulating leukocytes. These findings clarify the molecular signaling pathways by which behavioral interventions can influence physical health and alter peripheral inflammatory processes that may reciprocally affect brain affective and cognitive processes.