Study: Attitude Can't Overcome Cancer

(WebMD)  Having a positive attitude may help cancer patients deal with their disease, but it doesn't directly affect survival, according to one of the largest and most rigorously designed investigations ever to examine the issue.

The study included more than 1,000 people treated for head and neck cancer; the emotional state of patients was found to have no influence on survival.

The findings add to the growing evidence showing no scientific basis for the popular notion that an upbeat attitude is critical for "beating" cancer, says University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine behavioral scientist James C. Coyne, PhD, who led the study team.

"I wish it were true that cancer survival was influenced by the patient's emotional state," he tells WebMD. "But given that it is not, I think we should stop blaming the patient."

'The Tyranny of Positive Thinking'
Jimmie Holland, MD, agrees. The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center psychiatrist is a longtime critic of the "mind over cancer" proponents who tell patients they must stay positive to survive their disease.

In her book The Human Side of Cancer, Living with Hope, Coping with Uncertainty, Holland coined the term "the tyranny of positive thinking" to describe the belief.

"The idea that we can control illness and death with our minds appeals to our deepest yearnings, but it just isn't so," she tells WebMD. "It is so sad that cancer patients are made to believe that if they aren't doing well it is somehow their own fault because they aren't positive enough."

Holland does acknowledge the benefits of staying positive during cancer treatment, and she is an advocate of techniques like relaxation, meditation, support groups, and prayer to help patients cope with their disease.

But she says there is no credible evidence that positive thinking alone directly influences tumor growth.

"People really want to believe this, so even very good studies like this one probably won't change public thinking," she says. "But the scientific community is getting the message."

Attitude and Cancer Survival
The newly published study included 1,093 patients with head and neck cancer who completed quality-of-life questionnaires during their treatment.

Coyne says the study group was limited to patients with a single cancer who had similar treatments to better assess the impact of state of mind on survival.

A total of 646 patients died during the study follow-up. Even after acounting for other variables that could affect survival, a patient's emotional state was found to have no bearing on whether or not he or she lived or died.

The study appears in the Dec. 1 issue of the American Cancer Society (ACS) journal Cancer.

In a separate review of other studies published earlier this year, Coyne, University of Pennsylvania colleague Steven Palmer, PhD, and ACS researcher Michael Stefanek, PhD, found insufficient evidence that participation in psychotherapy or cancer support groups plays a role in survival.

In that report, the researchers concluded that the hope that emotional state is a driving factor in cancer outcomes "appears to have been misplaced."

"If cancer patients want psychotherapy or to be in a support group, they should be given the opportunity to do so," they wrote in the journal Psychological Bulletin. "There can be lots of emotional and social benefits. But [patients] should not seek such experiences solely on the expectation that they are extending their lives."

By Salynn Boyles
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2007 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved

[codyblood]

The discovery that emotional state does not directly effect tumor groth has very little to do with an overall cancer recovery. Also this articles goal seems to be to inform people that positive attitude does not help cancer recovery. This is a very negitive way to approach the large amount of false hope offered to cancer patients. But the ideas that this artcle are trying to disprove may be less specific than the author may have realized. And as the Placiebo effect is well documented. It may not neccesarrilly be true that optimisim has nothing to do with cancer recovery. Is it not true that an optimistic person may be more opt to be activly trying to beat cancer in any way they can? Is a person that has more of a desire to live more likley to live? I would say yes. Also concidering the fact that optimism is associated with a balanced brain chemistry it would be more likely that a person who is optimistic is a healtyier person and more able to fight such a disease. I believe a possible explaination is that the author of this article may have less than an optimistic view of the world and is convinced their perspective has nothing to do with their bodilly functions. As Fraud once said. We hate the things in other people which we hate about ourselves but can''t admit.

[monicahudson]

If you believe you will be healed it helps you feel better. The bible says, Ask and Ye shall receive. That is true. If you ask God to heal you and you have FAITH that he will then you will be healed, my dad (died of leukemia 1993) said that until the very end. We are not all healed on earth like we want to be but when we get to heaven the cancer is gone! So you must have faith that you will feel better to get into heaven (without faith in God you wont get in, so you MUST have faith). Do you know the true definition of faith? %u201Cbelief in, devotion to, or trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof%u201D you see that%u2026%u201Dlogical%u201D proof. We don%u2019t need proof that God can and does heal people. Sometimes he brings them to heaven with him and sometimes he heals them and keeps them on earth for a while. Nobody should give up the fight no matter what this study shows! When you wake up EVERY morning YOU decide what kind of day you are going to have by your attitude. It can be positive or it can be negative, it is up to you. Don%u2019t you feel better if it is positive? Wouldn%u2019t you rather say %u201CI am going to beat this cancer%u201D and have a good day than think %u201CToday I might die%u201D?

[hippychicky-2009]

osudonn:
"Since I reported in JAMA that ''''death doesn''''t take a holiday'''' for people dying of cancer, I agree completely with this report that attitude has no effect on survival. However, I think folks miss the point that a positive attitude has a great effect on quality of life - both for the patient, their family, and friends."

I agree completely with you. I am a nurse, and people who think positively can improve their general outlook, possibley even feel physically better. But they can''t cure themselves.

[slim1h2o]

Posted by Antihysteria at 10:03 PM : Oct 22, 2007

You are an idiot plain and simple. Hows this for positive thinking.

I know positivily that doctors are a$$holes and stupid, they can''t see the forest all right, they also can''t see common sense. They''re educated morons, who take graff, payola, and anything else that Big Pharma''s want to pay, or give. In short,,,fu(k doctors, they su(k. Next time screw someone else.

[antihysteria]

Would the esteemed doctors contend that unhealthy behaviors do not promote the aquisition and growth of cancerous tumors and would they further claim that said behaviors are not affected by one''s mental attitude? For example, whether or not you smoke that cigarette or take that drink has a great deal to do with your outlook and we know for a fact that excessive smoking and drinking may cause cancer. Many scientists often cannot see the forest for the trees, claiming the latest thinking as the absolute truth, then discarding it for tomorrow''s thinking as easily as they change their underwear.

[antihysteria]

Would the esteemed doctors contend that unhealthy behaviors do not promote the aquisition and growth of cancerous tumors and would they further claim that these behaviors are not affected by one''s mental attitude? For example, whether or not you smoke that cigarette or take that drink has a great deal to do with your general attitude and we know for a fact that smoking and drinking may cause cancer. Many scientists often cannot see the forest for the trees and arrogantly claim the latest thinking to be the absolute truth, only to discard it for tomorrow''s thinking as easily as they change their underwear.

[osudonn]

Since I reported in JAMA that ''death doesn''t take a holiday'' for people dying of cancer, I agree completely with this report that attitude has no effect on survival. However, I think folks miss the point that a positive attitude has a great effect on quality of life - both for the patient, their family, and friends.

[erasmus6]

"The study included more than 1,000 people treated for head and neck cancer; the emotional state of patients was found to have no influence on survival"

I could be wrong but it seems to me that anyone that I have ever known to have head or neck cancer, don''t seem to have it long enough for attitude to be able to play a role. Attitude could play a role if the person could live long enough with it. In other words if the cancer is going to kill you in a few months, there isn''t really time for attitude to help you much. Sometimes it takes a bit of time after the initial shock, for the positive attititude to kick in. I believe attitude plays a big role.

[intention07]

Positive attitude without being connected to a loving relationship of community are lost in the air. May we ever accept death was the cure, and a positive outcome.

[preacherbob1]

snidegrass-you need an attitude adjustment. I have been smoking, about like you, for 65 years, so what? Life is beautiful, God is good and you are a fruitcake.