Presurgical stress management improves postoperative immune function in men with prostate cancer undergoing radical prostatectomy.
OBJECTIVE
To assess whether stress management (SM) improved immune outcomes in men undergoing surgery for prostate cancer.


METHODS
A total of 159 men were assigned randomly to a two-session presurgical SM intervention, a two-session supportive attention (SA) group, or a standard care (SC) group. Men in the SM group discussed their concerns about the upcoming surgery and were taught diaphragmatic breathing, guided imagery; they had an imaginal exposure to the day of surgery and learned adaptive coping skills. Men in the SA group discussed their concerns about the upcoming surgery and had a semistructured medical interview. Blood samples were collected at baseline (1 month before surgery) and 48 hours after surgery. Measures of mood (Profile of Mood States) were collected at baseline, 1 week pre surgery, and the morning of surgery.


RESULTS
Men in the SM group had significantly higher levels of natural killer cell cytotoxicity (p = .04) and higher levels of circulating proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin [IL]-12p70, p = .02; IL-1β, p = .02; tumor necrosis factor-α, p = .05) 48 hours post surgery than men in the SA group and higher levels of natural killer cell cytotoxicity (p = 0.02) and IL-1β (p = .05) than men in the SC group. Immune parameters increased for the SM group and decreased or stayed the same for the SA and SC groups. The SM group had significantly lower Profile of Mood States scores than the SC group (p = .006), with no other group differences between SA and SC groups. Changes in mood were not associated with immune outcomes.


CONCLUSIONS
The finding that SM leads to decreased presurgical mood-disturbance and increased immune parameters after surgery reveals the potential psychological and biological benefits of presurgical SM.
Department of Behavioral Science-Unit 1330, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030, USA. lcohen@mdanderson.org
Lorenzo
L
Cohen
Patricia A
PA
Parker
Luis
L
Vence
Cheryln
C
Savary
Diane
D
Kentor
Curtis
C
Pettaway
Richard
R
Babaian
Louis
L
Pisters
Brian
B
Miles
Qi
Q
Wei
Leslie
L
Wiltz
Tejal
T
Patel
Laszlo
L
Radvanyi
D000328:Adult; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000502:physiology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011468:Prostatectomy / Q000379:methods*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D059039:Standard of Care; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D016207:Cytokines; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen