The adjustment process for breast cancer survivors may be burdensome and lengthy. There is also ample evidence from the psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) literature showing that adults undergoing acute and/or long term stressors experience high rates of adjustment difficulties and important biologic effects--persistent down regulation of the immune system. Thus, deteriorations in quality of life (QOL) with cancer are underscored if they also have adverse health effects. In the general case, the immune system may be relevant to host resistance against progression and metastatic spread, but cancers etiologically linked to hormonal stimuli--such as breast cancer--may be particularly responsive to adverse, down-regulating factors. To guide the research, a biobehavioral model of cancer stress and disease course is proposed. This model includes psychological (stress and quality of life), behavioral (health behaviors and compliance), and biologic (immune) factors, and specifies the pathways by which health outcomes (eg. disease endpoints--recurrence, disease-free interval) might be affected. We propose to test portions of the model with an experiment--a randomized clinical trial of a psychological intervention. Women with Stage II or III breast cancer will be randomized between psychological behavioral intervention and no intervention arms. Our hypothesis is that women being treated with the psychological intervention protocol will show lowered stress, increased QOL, more positive health behaviors and fewer negative ones, greater compliance, and an increase in immune functioning. In turn, we also anticipate that they will show a doubling (ratio of median duration=2)in time to recurrence, with a .05 level of significance and power of 0.80, one-sided test. Data from this proposal will provide 1) a test of a psychological intervention which is designed to reduce stress, enhance quality of life, increase positive health behaviors, decrease negative health behaviors, and improve compliance; 2) a test of the immune enhancing effects of such interventions; 3) a test of the health (cancer Outcome) consequences of such interventions; and, 4) a test of immunity as one mechanism which may link psychological/behavioral variables to cancer outcomes.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH051487-02
Application #
2416019
Study Section
Health Behavior and Prevention Review Committee (HBPR)
Project Start
1996-09-30
Project End
2001-04-30
Budget Start
1997-05-01
Budget End
1998-04-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1997
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Ohio State University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
098987217
City
Columbus
State
OH
Country
United States
Zip Code
43210
Andersen, Barbara L; Goyal, Neha Godiwala; Westbrook, Travis D et al. (2017) Trajectories of Stress, Depressive Symptoms, and Immunity in Cancer Survivors: Diagnosis to 5 Years. Clin Cancer Res 23:52-61
Conley, Claire C; Bishop, Brenden T; Andersen, Barbara L (2016) Emotions and Emotion Regulation in Breast Cancer Survivorship. Healthcare (Basel) 4:
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Gregorio, Sharla Wells-Di; Carpenter, Kristen M; Dorfman, Caroline S et al. (2012) Impact of breast cancer recurrence and cancer-specific stress on spouse health and immune function. Brain Behav Immun 26:228-33
Mundy-Bosse, Bethany L; Thornton, Lisa M; Yang, Hae-Chung et al. (2011) Psychological stress is associated with altered levels of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in breast cancer patients. Cell Immunol 270:80-7
Andersen, Barbara L; Thornton, Lisa M; Shapiro, Charles L et al. (2010) Biobehavioral, immune, and health benefits following recurrence for psychological intervention participants. Clin Cancer Res 16:3270-8
Brothers, Brittany M; Andersen, Barbara L (2009) Hopelessness as a predictor of depressive symptoms for breast cancer patients coping with recurrence. Psychooncology 18:267-75
Emery, Charles F; Yang, Hae-Chung; Frierson, Georita M et al. (2009) Determinants of physical activity among women treated for breast cancer in a 5-year longitudinal follow-up investigation. Psychooncology 18:377-86
Yang, Hae-Chung; Schuler, Tammy A (2009) Marital quality and survivorship: slowed recovery for breast cancer patients in distressed relationships. Cancer 115:217-28
Andersen, Barbara L (2009) In sickness and in health: maintaining intimacy after breast cancer recurrence. Cancer J 15:70-3

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