ADJUSTMENT TO BREAST-CANCER - THE PSYCHOBIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF PSYCHOSOCIAL INTERVENTIONS

This review focuses on the effects of psychosocial interventions on ps ychological and biological functioning of breast cancer patients. Once in their lifetime, one out of eleven women receive a diagnosis of bre ast cancer, A diagnosis of breast cancer is a severe stressful life ev ent with profound consequences on all aspects of human life. Whether a woman will regain emotional balance and accept the idea of living wit h a potentially life threatening disease depends on her psychological resiliency. Provision of psychosocial interventions can improve these women's coping abilities and reduce emotional-distress and feelings of isolation, and improve psychosexual functioning. Additionally, there exists some evidence that psychotherapy may prolong survival, Prolonga tion of survival may be related, in part, to an increase in certain as pects of immune function (e.g., natural killer cell activity). This is plausible because the function of the immune system seems to be relat ed to mammary tumor growth. Therefore, future research should examine the degree to which the effects on mammary tumor growth relate to immu ne system changes.