Psychosocial Treatment for Improving Chances of Survival in Women With Breast Cancer

The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of psychosocial treatment on psychological outcomes and survival among women with metastatic/recurrent breast cancer.

Inclusion criteria

Women were eligible for the study if they had documented metastatic or recurrent breast cancer, were proficient enough in English to be able to complete questionnaires and participate in a support group, were living in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, and had a Karnofsky score of at least 70%.19 Exclusion Criteria:

Women were excluded if they had any of the following risk factors: positive supraclavicular lymph nodes as the only metastatic lesion at the time of initial diagnosis; active non-breast cancers within the past 10 years; or other concurrent medical conditions likely to influence short-term survival. Basal cell or squamous cell carcinomas of the skin, in situ cancer of the cervix, or melanoma with a Breslow depth less than 0.76 mm were allowed.