Effect of a Stress Reduction Intervention on Psycho-Immuno-Endocrine Parameters in Early Stage Breast Cancer

摘要

This is a Career Development Award which provides salary support for research and training done under a separately-funded project, Grant Number DAMD 17-94-J-4475 (P.I. Dr. James R. Hebert), called the Breast Research initiative for DetermininG Effective Skills (BRIDGES), which focuses on skills for coping with breast cancer, and consists of a prospective randomized intervention trial with women ages 65 or less, having stage 1 or 2 breast cancer, randomized to one of three arms: (1) a modified form of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center mindfulness meditation-based Stress Reduction and Relaxation Program (SR&RP); (2) a nutrition education program developed specifically for BRIDGES; and (3) a usual-care control group. Outcome parameters are: (1) psychological and behavioral indices of function and coping; (2) quality of life measures; (3) compliance with the interventions and medical treatment regimens; and (4) immunological/endocrinological measures consisting of cytokines and melatonin. Over the past year, I have been involved in the following aspects of the project: writing manuscripts, serving on the Executive and Steering Committees, data cleaning and analysis, hypothesis testing, overseeing sample collections and analysis for the melatonin assays, quality control of the melatonin assay, and taking a two-semester introductory/intermediate level biostatistics course in the Dept. of Public Health.