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IMMUNE SYSTEMS OF BREAST CANCER PATIENTS
413
students were encouraged to maintain daily journal records, and 21 of
them were randomly assigned to weekly classes in self-hypnosis
throughout the semester. Although results showed that the two
groups were similar in immune function at the end of the semester,
within the self-hypnosis group the quality of the hypnotic intervention
correlated with the number and activity of NK cells (Whitehouse et al.,
1996). Similarly, an experiment performed several years later looked at
the effect of teaching self-hypnosis involving relaxation techniques
and specific immune imagery to students prior to their exams. The
results indicated that CD8
+
T-cell percentages, shown previously to
decline with exams, increased (Naito et al., 2003). Thus, hypnosis has a
positive effect on the immune system during times of stress.
Because studies have shown that hypnosis boosts the immune sys-
tem in participants with herpes and exam-induced stress, the effects of
hypnosis on more life-threatening diseases is a growing field. Research
has been ongoing in cancer patients and began as early as 1958 when a
paper presented at the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine discussed
using hypnosis as a way to “increase the resistance of the host” to car-
cinoma (Barabasz & Watkins, 2005, p. 305). The purpose of this paper
is to evaluate two studies assessing the effects of hypnosis on the
immune system in women diagnosed with Stage I or II breast cancer
who were at least 6 months beyond invasive therapies: (a) the Bakke,
Purtzer, and Newton experiment, which taught hypnotic guided imag-
ery therapy to participants (2002), and (b) the Hidderley and Holt
study, which provided patients with home visits and autogenic train-
ing (2004). A critical assessment of the papers is necessary to make a
recommendation about the use of hypnosis as adjuvant therapy in the
treatment of early stage breast cancer, as well to raise questions about
the experimental design of trials involving hypnosis for future design
development.
H
OW
H
YPNOSIS
A
LTERS
THE
I
MMUNE
S
YSTEM
IN THE
S
ETTING OF
C
ANCER
Before evaluating the articles, it is useful to understand how hypno-
sis may alter the immune system and why this is important in the con-
text of cancer. Although the exact signaling pathway of the brain’s
effect on physiological functioning has yet to be elucidated, general
principles about the mind-body connection are well accepted. Overall,
stress, such as that induced by a cancer diagnosis, is manifested as a
negative mental state. It appears that the biochemical state of the brain
influences sympathetic and hormonal signals, thus dysregulating the
immune system in the body. Because hypnosis alters the cognitive per-
ception of stressful events, it can reverse the downstream immune
effects caused by stress.
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