A breast cancer diagnosis is devastating. After the initial shock, there are several emotional stages such as sadness, denial and anger— each of these emotions can affect the body’s ability to fight. In the quest for answers on stress and the body’s immune system, it seems there may be some hope for those afflicted with breast cancer.

The Touch Research Institutes (TRI) at the University of Miami School of Medicine in Coral Gables, FL, recently announced that research indicates massage therapy increases the number of natural killer cells known to destroy cancer cells in women with breast cancer, thereby increasing patient immune function.

The findings are the result of a TRI study conducted with funding from Biotone, San Diego, CA, a provider of massage and body treatment products for massage therapy, health and spa professionals, to determine the effects of massage therapy for enhancing immune function in breast cancer patients.

Fifty-eight breast cancer patients from the Miami area participated in the TRI study. Participants, who were in the early stages of cancer, received 20-minute massage therapy twice a week for five weeks; others in a control group received no massage therapy. At the end of the five-week period, blood tests indicated an 11 percent increase in the number of natural killer cells that destroy cancer cells among the participants who received massage therapy. These participants also reported being less depressed, less anxious and less angry, as well as having more vigor than the control group.

“The results of our study indicate the importance of complementary therapies, like massage therapy, for improving the immune function and well-being of women with breast cancer,” said Dr. Tiffany Field, TRI director. “This study adds to the many other studies we have conducted about the importance of massage therapy to enhance the immune systems of patients with serious healthcare problems, such as HIV in adolescents and adults and leukemia in children.”

Biotone contributed funds for the study under its annual charitable program to support organizations that are advancing the knowledge, research and use of massage therapy in the prevention and treatment of major healthcare issues.

“We are at the beginning of a new era where massage therapy will play an increasingly important role in the prevention and treatment of major illnesses,” said Monica Fraser, Biotone president. “At Biotone, we are very pleased to contribute to the critical research that TRI is conducting, and through our annual corporate contribution program will continue to fund programs that explore the benefits of massage therapy in the treatment of major health problems.”

Biotone was founded in 1984 to provide massage therapy, health and spa professionals with professional massage and body treatment products and complementary supplies. Today, the company sells its products throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan.

The Touch Research Institutes (TRI) at the University of Miami School of Medicine is the first center that devotes its efforts solely to the study of touch and its applications in science and medicine for health promotion and the treatment of disease. Research at the center began in 1992.

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