| Abstract | In order to make a recommendation about the use of hypnosis as adjuvant therapy in the treatment of breast cancer, 2 studies assessing the immunological effects of hypnosis in patients with early stage breast cancer were evaluated: (a) an experiment that taught hypnotic guided-imagery therapy to patients and (b) one that provided participants with home visits and autogenic training. Both investigations demonstrated improvement in depression and increased natural killer (NK) cell counts after 2 months of hypnosis treatment. However, neither study determined the clinical significance of hypnosis in the setting of cancer, and therefore future experiments are needed to relate the immune-mediated effects of hypnosis to hard clinical outcomes like survival rates. |
| Authors | Kristin D Hudacek
(Affiliation: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. hudacek at mail.med.upenn.edu)
|
| Journal | The International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis
(Int J Clin Exp Hypn)
Vol. 55
Issue 4
Pg. 411-25
(Oct 2007)
ISSN: 0020-7144 United States |
| PMID | 17786658
(Publication Type: Journal Article)
|
| Topics |
- Breast Neoplasms
(immunology)
- Female
- Humans
- Hypnosis
(methods)
- Killer Cells, Natural
(immunology)
|
