Support groups for women living with breast cancer can dramatically increase their lifespan and quality of life.
The effect of psychosocial intervention on time of survival of 86 patients with metastatic breast cancer was studied prospectively. The 1 year intervention consisted of weekly supportive group therapy with self-hypnosis for pain. Both the treatment (n = 50) and control groups (n = 36) had routine oncological care. At 10 year follow-up, only 3 of the patients were alive, and death records were obtained for the other 83. Survival from the onset of intervention was a mean 37 months in the intervention group compared with 19 months in the control group, a significant difference.
