%0 Journal Article
%T The importance of spirituality in supportive care
%A Messina Giuseppina
%A Anania Stefania
%A Bonomo Claudia
%A Veneroni Laura
%J International Journal of Yoga
%D 2011
%I Medknow Publications
%X Background: It has been shown that the pineal gland plays a fundamental role in mediating either the spiritual perception or the anticancer immunity by stimulating the endogenous production of anticancer cytokine interleukin (IL)-2. Objective: The present study was performed to evaluate the impact of a spiritual approach consisting of Kriya Yoga program alone or in association with melatonin (MLT) or low-dose IL-2 plus MLT on the survival time in a group of metastatic cancer patients with life expectancy less than 1 year. Materials and Methods: A case-control study was carried out in 240 patients (M/F: 146/94; median age: 62 years, range: 34-71, suffering from non-small-cell lung cancer or gastrointestinal tumors) who were subdivided into 6 groups of 40 patients, treated with supportive care alone as a control group, supportive care plus Yoga, MLT alone, MLT plus Yoga, inteleukin-2 plus MLT, or IL-2 plus MLT plus Yoga. Results: The best results in terms of increased survival time were obtained by the association between neuroimmunotherapy with MLT plus IL-2 and Yoga program (2 years), which was significantly longer with respect to that achieved by supportive care alone, Yoga alone, or IL-2 plus MLT alone (1 year). Conclusions: This study would suggest that a spiritual therapeutic approach may improve the survival time of untreatable metastatic solid tumor patients.
%K Cancer
%K spirituality
%K yoga
%U http://www.ijoy.org.in/article.asp?issn=0973-6131;year=2011;volume=4;issue=1;spage=33;epage=38;aulast=Messina