Psychological Stress, Neutropenia, and Infectious Disease in Patients Receiving Chemotherapy Treatment for Breast Cancer.

Abstract

Abstract : Chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer can induce high levels of psychological distress, which are particularly pronounced prior to the first infusion of cytotoxic agents. Previous research raises the possibility that such distress may have effects on patients' subsequent levels of infectious disease during chemotherapy. The initial results of our ongoing study are consistent with this possibility. In a sample of 56 women receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for early stage breast cancer, we found a significant relation between levels of total mood disturbance on the day of the first chemotherapy infusion and patients' subsequent experience of infectious disease across their first three cycles of treatment. We were unable to account for this relation on the basis of demographic variables or relevant medical variables. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that psychological distress may have an impact on patients' risks of infection during chemotherapy.