title: Massage therapy for symptom control: outcome study at a major cancer center.
abstract: Massage is increasingly applied to relieve symptoms in patients with cancer. This practice is supported by evidence from small randomized trials. No study has examined massage therapy outcome in a large group of patients. At Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, patients report symptom severity pre- and post-massage therapy using 0-10 rating scales of pain, fatigue, stress/anxiety, nausea, depression and "other." Changes in symptom scores and the modifying effects of patient status (in- or outpatient) and type of massage were analyzed. Over a three-year period, 1,290 patients were treated. Symptom scores were reduced by approximately 50%, even for patients reporting high baseline scores. Outpatients improved about 10% more than inpatients. Benefits persisted, with outpatients experiencing no return toward baseline scores throughout the duration of 48-hour follow-up. These data indicate that massage therapy is associated with substantive improvement in cancer patients' symptom scores.
authors.affiliation: Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10021, USA.
authors.forename: Barrie R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Cassileth
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Vickers
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008405:Massage; D009325:Nausea / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology; D059408:Pain Management; D016896:Treatment Outcome