Martha Hoff, MFCC
Professional Page

A ten-year study found that women with metastatic cancer who take part in support groups live twice as long as women who do not take part in such groups. Spiegal, D. et al, "Effects of Psychosocial Treatment on Survival of Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer, " Lancet 2(8668):88-91(1989).

A well-known Psychiatrist, Laurence Le Shan, in an effort to prolong the lives of his patients who had cancer, adopted a two-prong approach. First he asked, "What is right with this person, and what is this person’s unique song in life?" Second, he asked "What has blocked this person’s ability to express his or her uniqueness in the past and how can we work together so that this person can live a full and zestful life?" He has stated that after 20 years, half of his "terminal" patients are alive and in remission. LeShan, LL. You Can Fight for Your Life: Emotional Factors in the Causation of Cancer (New York: M. Evans,1977).

The immune systems Natural Killer Cells help prevent the spread of cancer by killing migrating cancer cells before they form new tumors. Sandra Levy, director of Behavioral Medicine in Oncology at the Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, found that Natural Killer Cell activity was not affected by chemotherapy or radiotherapy, but by patient adjustment, lack of social support,and symptoms of fatigue and depression. Levy,S.M., et al. "Perceived Social Support and Tumor Estrogen/Progesterone Receptor Status as Predictors of Natural Killer Cell Activity for Breast Cancer Patients," Psychosomatic Medicine 52:73-85 (1990).