A presurgical psychosocial intervention for breast cancer patients: psychological distress and the immune response

Objective: The present study evaluated the feasibility and potential immuno logical benefit of a presurgical intervention for breast cancer patients. M ethods: Forty-one newly diagnosed breast cancer patients were randomized in to control (standard care) and intervention groups. In addition to standard care, intervention group members received a two-session psychosocial inter vention. Blood was drawn at three time-points: (1) at preintervention; (2) at postintervention/presur-gery; and (3) at postsurgery. Results: Examinati on of the immunological data revealed evidence of suppression of interferon -gamma (IFN-gamma) in the control group over time, but not in the intervent ion group. Secondary findings related to psychological assessment generally paralleled the IFN-gamma results. Conclusion: The relevance and applicabil ity of these findings to future breast cancer intervention research is deta iled. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.