Department of Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Support Care Cancer. 2011 Sep;19(9):1303-11. doi: 10.1007/s00520-010-0946-2. Epub 2010 Jul 20.
Cancer patients frequently suffer from psychological comorbidities such as depression and elevated stress. Previous studies could demonstrate that cancer patients benefit from massage therapy on the physical and psychological level. This pilot study investigates the effects of massage on depression, mood, perceived stress, and the Th1/Th2 ratio in breast cancer patients.
Thirty-four breast cancer patients were randomly assigned to a massage group (n=17) and a control group (n=17). Patients of the massage group received two 30-min classical massages per week for 5 weeks. At baseline, at the end of the intervention period, and 6 weeks after the end of intervention, patients of both groups completed the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), and the Berlin Mood Questionnaire (BFS) and blood was withdrawn for determining cytokine concentrations and the Th1/Th2 ratio.
Twenty-nine patients were included in the statistical analysis. Depression (PHQ) and anxious depression (BSF) were significantly reduced immediately after massage compared to the control group. Stress (PSQ) and elevated mood (BSF) did not show significant alterations after massage therapy. Changes of cytokine concentrations and Th1/Th2 ratio were insignificant as well, although there was a slight shift towards Th1 in the massage group over time.
Massage therapy is an efficient treatment for reducing depression in breast cancer patients. Insignificant results concerning immunological parameters, stress, and mood indicate that further research is needed to determine psychological and immunological changes under massage therapy.
癌症患者经常患有心理合并症，如抑郁和压力升高。先前的研究表明，癌症患者可以从按摩疗法中获得身体和心理上的益处。本初步研究调查了按摩对乳腺癌患者的抑郁、情绪、感知压力和 Th1/Th2 比值的影响。
34 名乳腺癌患者被随机分为按摩组（n=17）和对照组（n=17）。按摩组的患者每周接受两次 30 分钟的经典按摩，共 5 周。在基线、干预结束时和干预结束后 6 周，两组患者都完成了感知压力问卷（PSQ）、患者健康问卷（PHQ）和柏林情绪问卷（BFS），并抽取血液以确定细胞因子浓度和 Th1/Th2 比值。
29 名患者被纳入统计分析。与对照组相比，按摩后患者的抑郁（PHQ）和焦虑抑郁（BFS）显著降低。按摩后，压力（PSQ）和情绪升高（BFS）没有明显改变。细胞因子浓度和 Th1/Th2 比值的变化也不显著，尽管按摩组的 Th1 略有增加。
按摩疗法是治疗乳腺癌患者抑郁的有效方法。关于免疫参数、压力和情绪的结果不显著表明，需要进一步研究来确定按摩治疗下的心理和免疫变化。
