Hypnotherapy in cancer care: Clinical benefits and prospective implications

Abstract

The aim of this review is to summarize data published on the use of hypnotherapy in cancer patients. Cancer is probably a disease people fear the most. Indeed, the majority of cancer patients experience stress, anxiety, depression, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and pain. Medical treatments of cancer such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery are clearly necessary but can affect patients on different levels and hence have a negative impact on physical and mental health. This review examines the effect of clinical hypnotherapy performed in cancer care, particularly on psychological disturbances, pain, and fatigue. A literature search of relevant literature was performed from February 2016 to October 2016. CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, and ScienceDaily databases were searched using search terms for mind–body intervention “hypnotherapy,” “hypnosis,” and “hypnotism” combined with the term “cancer” and terms for symptoms of interest “pain,” “mood disturbances,” “psychological disturbances,” “fatigue,” “anger,” “aggression,” “anxiety,” “tension,” “depression,” “confusion,” “delirium,” “vigour.” English language peer-reviewed articles, randomized trials, and reviews were selected. A first extensive literature review resulted in 98 articles. Finally, 55 research papers were identified for further review and analysis. On the basis of review of previous researches, it can be concluded that hypnotherapy seems to improve the mental health as well as physical health in cancer patients. Moreover, of course, randomized prospective studies are now needed to confirm the observed advantages of hypnosis in the field of oncology.