Stanford psychiatrist David Spiegel studied 50
women with metastatic breast cancer who attended a weekly support group.
Those who attended the group reported significantly better quality of
life: less pain and elevated mood, as compared with a control group who did
not attend therapy sessions. But Spiegel was most impressed by the
finding that support-group participants ultimately lived almost twice as
long after diagnosis as those in the control group. Women in the support
group lived an average of three years, as opposed to less than two years
for those in the control group.
Attempts to replicate Spiegel's landmark research have yielded
mixed or disappointing results. A study published in
The New England Journal of Medicine found that among
235 women with metastatic breast cancer who were randomly assigned to
either group therapy or to a control group, those in the support group
experienced greater improvement in quality of life, but no difference in
length of survival.
A review of research on psychological interventions for
cancer patients by Barbara Andersen, Ph.D., published in the
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, found
that psychotherapy is highly effective in improving quality of life but
does not contribute to survival.
Spiegel responded that the conflicting findings may be due to
improved medical treatment and that more people now receive
increased emotional support from family members and educational groups,
thereby approximating the effects of experimental group therapy. In
The New England Journal of Medicine, Spiegel states
that medical literature shows psychotherapy moderately
prolonged survival in five out of 10 published trials.
Cancer patients, who are considering group therapy, should choose
one that has eight to 10 people, meets weekly and is facilitated by a
licensed therapist. This will probably increase quality of life, and
thereby potentially extend life as well.
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