Breast cancer survivors are high users of CAM modalities including hands-on healing techniques. This competing continuation proposal examines the short-term impact of energy healing vs. mock healing for fatigued breast cancer survivors, and explores whether certain factors (i.e., worldview, absorption, and religious and/or spiritual variables) are associated with positive responses to treatment. Outcome measures include self-reports of fatigue, depression and quality of life as well as inflammatory immune (soluble intracellular adhesion molecule and tumor necrosis factor alpha receptor II) and hormonal (cortisol) markers that are associated with these psychological factors and bear clinical relevance for breast cancer. This is a two-group design in which 50 participants are randomized to five sessions of either energy healing or mock energy healing over a one-month period. It is hypothesized that treatment with energy healing will be associated with lower fatigue and improved psychological functioning, as well as decreases in inflammatory j markers and cortisol levels. A secondary hypothesis is that participants whose worldviews match the j holistic principles of energy healing will report greater benefits from treatment than those with non-matching worldviews, and that this benefit will be specific to energy healing vs. mock healing. The protocol takes place at the UCSD General Clinical Research Center (GCRC), where full nursing staff and laboratory support is provided, as well as hospital rooms for healing and mock healing treatments. Hormonal and inflammatory immune measures will be measured by radioimmunoassay and enzyme-linked immunosorbant assays (ELISAs). Results from this study will provide breast cancer survivors with important information about the relative efficacy of hands-on healing techniques vs. simple touch for alleviating fatigue after cancer treatment, to aid in choosing modalities for their self-care. For the reasons fully explained in detail in section #27, the PI is requesting an additional year of funding for this 2 year F31 in order to complete this clinical trial, which is her dissertation project. ? ? ? ? ?
| Jain, Shamini; Pavlik, Desiree; Distefan, Janet et al. (2012) Complementary medicine for fatigue and cortisol variability in breast cancer survivors: a randomized controlled trial. Cancer 118:777-87 |
