"How is the immune system of a woman diagnosed with breast cancer affected by a stress management intervention involving imagery and relaxation?"
Women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer have been shown, through substantial medical progress, to have the possibility of being "cured" of the cancer. Even with this high chance of a positive outcome, those women that are "cured" of the breast cancer still have the possibility of recurrence to deal with. This possibility is a reality for many breast cancer victims. It is estimated that 20-40% of women with early stage breast cancer will recur, depending on tumor size, status of axillary nodes, and ER and hormone receptor status of the tumor (Fisher et al., 1989, 1990). There are interventions being done with early stage breast cancer which hope to minimize disease recurrence and disease progression. Growing research evidence suggests that imagery and relaxation add to the woman's healing with enhanced mood, decreases anxiety, and reduced pain. There are three programs of research using some form of psychoeducational intervention (social support or stress management strategies, including hypnosis or imagery/relaxation training) to enhance biomedical outcomes for cancer survivors. The Helping Your Healing Program is designed to extend the work of these research programs. This intervention is carried out on an individual basis instead of a group-delivered system. Studies have shown that diagnosed women's distress and depressive mood levels exceed those of comparison groups at least up to if now exceeding one year. These stressful events can lead to a decreased immune response in the individual. Different stress hormones such as catecholamines and cortisol can be affected by depressed thinking/mood, which can alter the autonomic and neuroendocrine output from the brain, potentially modifying immunity. The purpose of this study is to examine and describe the patterns of these two stress hormones (catecholamine and cortisol) before and after the intervention. If this intervention for stress management is effective, both catecholamine and cortisol are expected to diminish. Long-range diminishing stress hormones should result in a decreased probability of disease recurrence or progression.
