Massage Therapy for Reducing Stress Hormones and Enhancing Immune Function in Breast Cancer Survivors
Abstract
The objectives and specific aims of the ongoing study are to evaluate massage and relaxation therapies for an ethnically diverse group of women with early stages of breast cancer (Stages 1 and 2) for (1) decreasing anxiety, stress and stress hormones, (2) decreasing depressed mood and increasing serotonin (a biochemical that diminishes with depression) and (3) increasing Natural Killer cell number and cytotoxicity (immune measures that fight tumors and viruses). During the course of the three-year study, 60 women diagnosed with Stage 1 and 2 breast cancer will be recruited and assigned to a massage therapy (n=20), a relaxation therapy (n=20) or a control group (n=20). Women in the massage and relaxation therapies will receive 3 sessions a week for 5 weeks. On the first and last day of a 5 week period, self-report measures will be collected on anxiety and depression and women will submit a urine sample and have their blood drawn to assay treatment effects on stress hormones and immune measures. Findings thus far on a subsample of 25 women reveal that women in the massage therapy group showed (1) reduced anxiety, (2) improved mood, (3) increased serotonin levels and (4) increased Natural Killer cell numbers. Women in the relaxation group showed a trend toward improved mood. These preliminary findings are encouraging and provide support for the hypotheses that massage therapy enhances mood and immune function for women with breast cancer.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA385582
Entities
People
- Gail Tronson
Organizations
- University of Miami