Hypnosis in Breast Cancer Care

Abstract

Introduction. Many breast cancer patients and survivors experience pain and emotional stress related to their disease, its diagnostic procedures, or treatment. Hypnosis has long been used for the treatment of such symptoms. The aim of this review was to systematically assess the effectiveness of hypnosis in women with breast cancer, breast cancer survivors, and in women undergoing diagnostic breast biopsy. Methods. PubMed, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, and CAMBASE were screened through February 2014 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of hypnosis in women with breast cancer or undergoing diagnostic breast biopsy. RCTs on postmenopausal women without a history of breast cancer were also eligible. Primary outcomes were pain, distress, fatigue, nausea/vomiting, and hot flashes. Safety was defined as secondary outcome measure. Risk of bias was assessed by 2 reviewers independently using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. Results. Thirteen RCTs with 1357 patients were included. In women undergoing diagnostic breast biopsy (3 RCTs), hypnosis positively influenced pain and distress; 1 RCT on breast cancer surgery found effects of hypnosis on pain, distress, fatigue, and nausea. For women undergoing radiotherapy (3 RCTs), hypnosis combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy improved distress and fatigue. In 3 RCTs on women with and without a history of breast cancer experiencing hot flashes, hypnosis improved hot flashes and distress. Three RCTs on women with metastatic breast cancer found effects on pain and distress. Conclusions. This systematic review found sparse but promising evidence for the effectiveness of hypnosis in breast cancer care. While more research is needed to underpin these results, hypnosis can be considered as an ancillary intervention in the management of breast cancer-related symptoms.

Group interventions to reduce emotional distress and fatigue in breast cancer patients: a 9-month follow-up pragmatic trial

“…Yoga includes various fields such as ethical disciplines, physical postures, and spiritual practices with the aim of uniting mind and body ( Smith and Pukall, 2009 ), whereas hypnosis is defined as ‘a procedure during which a health professional or researcher suggests that a patient or subject experience changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts, or behaviour’ ( The Executive Committee of the American Psychological Association – Division of Psychological Hypnosis, 1994 ). These mind–body approaches began to show short- and mid-term improvements in breast cancer patient fatigue, sleep, anxiety, and depressive symptoms ( Banerjee et al , 2007 ; Moadel et al , 2007 ; Farrell-Carnahan et al , 2010 ; Mustian et al , 2013 ; Kiecolt-Glaser et al , 2014 ; Montgomery et al , 2014 ; Cramer et al , 2015 ; Lanctôt et al , 2016 ).…”

Hypnosis in the Perioperative Management of Breast Cancer Surgery: Clinical Benefits and Potential Implications

“…Suggestions made during hypnosis may affect patient outcomes improving various aspects like negative affectivity, emotional distress, pain, and analgesic medication consumption, as well as physiological indicators, such as nausea, vomiting, asthenia, lymphocele, and treatment, and recovery times. According to another review, the benefits of hypnosis are greater in the preoperative period [101]. Future research therefore investigate whether use of hypnosis during surgery can have any long-term benefits too.…”

Intervenciones no farmacológicas para reducir síntomas depresivos en mujeres con cáncer de mama

“…Consiste en un conjunto de técnicas basadas en diálogos con expertos en salud mental que utilizan distintos enfoques como: terapia cognitiva, 13 cognitiva conductual 14 (la más frecuente), cognitiva existencial, 15 activación conductual, 16 psicodinámica breve, 17 resolución de problemas 18 e hipnosis. 19 Todos estos enfoques tienen la finalidad de que la paciente se adapte a su nuevo diagnóstico, afronte la enfermedad, tome las mejores decisiones personales y familiares, y, además, reducen su sufrimiento o angustia respecto a la posibilidad de la muerte. Las estrategias terapéuticas comunes son propiciar el cambio de ideas o la resignificación de las experiencias y generar catarsis o descargas de afectos negativos.…”

“…24 Aplicada con enfoque cognitivo, la psicoterapia podría reducir también comorbilidades como el aumento de funciones verbales y visoespaciales que suelen verse disminuidas con la quimioterapia. 25 Con un enfoque de hipnosis, se ha observado que reduce el estrés, nausea y dolor si se aplica antes de las biopsias o cirugías, 19 no obstante, la información sobre el impacto de la hipnosis en la reducción de los síntomas depresivos es escasa, lo cual también ocurre con otros enfoques psicoterapéuticos que no son cognitivo-conductuales.…”