Psychogenic activation phenomenon of specific anti-tumor immunity in cancer patients

Abstract

The present study aimed to identify the influence of the mind on specific anti-tumor immunity of cancer patients. The study involved 90 cancer patients (78 women and 12 men) with 18 various types of cancer. The presence of psychogenic medical history before diagnosis of cancer was the basic criterion of cancer patients selection for this study. The psychometric parameters, quality of life, delayed-type hypersensitivity skin reaction on the tumor-associated antigens of human melanoma cell line BRO, cytokines (30 Plex) in native plasma and 24 h blood supernatants were investigated before and after psycho-correction. The delayed-type hypersensitivity skin reaction on the tumor-associated antigens in all cancer patients significantly increased (p= 0.0001) after elimination of psycho-emotional disorders by psychotropic drugs. In this case, there were no detected reliable changes in the concentrations of cytokines. The described new pathophysiological phenomenon consists in a spontaneous (nonimmunogenic) increase of specific anti-tumor activity of the immune system of cancer patients who coped effectively with psycho-emotional disorders.