Breast cancer support group

In 1989, a land-mark research study reported that 50 women with metastatic breast cancer, who met weekly in 90 minute support groups for one year that encourage women to express their feelings and concerns about their illness, prolonged their survival by an average of twice as long as matched breast cancer patients who were not psychologically supported at all.

In this new multicenter, Canadian study, women with metastatic breast cancer were randomized to receive either supportive-expressive group therapy or nonintervention. The therapy participants attended 90 minute weekly meetings for 12 months. An average of two thirds of the group therapy participants attended the meetings. The women in the therapy group experienced more improvement in psychological symptoms and less pain. Also, the women in this group who were at the highest level of distress at baseline showed improvement during the study, whereas those with lower stress scores did not show improvement. Median survival was not significantly longer in the therapy group compared with the nonintervention group (17.9 months vs 17.6 months).

Comment: The disappointing news is that supportive expressive group therapy did not prolong survival in women with metastatic breast cancer. However, for those women in the most psychological distress before the groups started, group therapy improved mood and reduced reports of pain. Although median survival was not different between the two groups, the benefit of improving psychological distress in women facing a life threatening illness makes this intervention still a valuable tool to recommend to those in need.

Goodwin P, et al. The effect of group psychoscial support on survival in metastatic breast cancer. N Engl J Med 2001; 345:1719-1726.