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Psychological Intervention Provides Enduring Health Benefits for Women With Breast Cancer

Stress-reducing psychological intervention helps to increase survival and quality of life among women with recurrent breast cancer over the long-term, according to results of a phase 3 study published in Clinical Cancer Research.

“Patients in the intervention arm evidenced significant emotional improvement and more favorable immune responses in the year following recurrence diagnosis. In contrast, stress remained unabated and immunity significantly declined in the assessment-only group,” says lead researcher Barbara L. Andersen, PhD, a psychology professor at Ohio State University and a researcher at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.

Psychological stress leads to disruptions in quality of life, health behaviors, and immunity, all of which contribute to poorer health outcomes.

Participants included 227 women with newly diagnosed stage 2 or 3 breast cancer; they were randomized to receive a psychological intervention or assessment only. Psychological intervention included the following clinical objectives for patients: understand the nature of cancer stress; learn tangible ways to reduce stress and improve quality of life; maintain adherence and follow-up to cancer care; enhance communication with medical care providers; and increase well-being during treatment, facilitate recovery, and improve overall health.

During follow-up, 62 women were diagnosed with recurrent breast cancer. After recurrence, women who had earlier received the psychological intervention had a 59% reduction in the risk of dying of breast cancer.

According to Andersen, these results “show enduring benefits from the psychological intervention that were never previously considered or observed,” and suggest that the intervention’s mechanisms affected patients’ risks for recurrence and for breast cancer death.

— Source: American Association for Cancer Research