In holistic and complementary medicine, each person is viewed as a unified whole, with both mind and spirit playing important roles in healing the body. Massage, biofeedback, visualization, meditation and many other techniques are used to help the body heal itself. For people affected by cancer, complementary and holistic treatments have been shown to have especially powerful effects in reducing pain and other side effects, boosting energy level and mood, and promoting an overall improvement in the quality of life.*

• Some estimates put the use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) as high as 54% of cancer patients in the United States. They use it to decrease nausea, fatigue, anxiety and pain.
• Massage therapy and healing touch have proven to be more effective than presence alone or standard care in reducing pain, mood disturbance and fatigue in patients receiving chemotherapy.
• According to the Mayo Clinic, people with cancer who received regularly scheduled massage therapy during treatment reported less anxiety, pain and fatigue.
• Studies done with cancer patients have suggested that massage can decrease stress, anxiety, depression, pain and fatigue.
• The American Cancer Society believes that massage is almost universally a beneficial therapy, citing that it is not only helpful physically, but emotionally as well, as it soothes the soul and mind.

In a study at The Sahlgrenska Academy at Goteborg University in Sweden, 10 patients received massage at five occasions. What was discovered was that receiving massage during chemotherapy was described as a retreat from the feeling of uneasiness toward chemotherapy. The results revealed five themes: the patients experienced distraction from the frightening experience, a turn from negative to positive, a sense of relaxation, a confirmation of caring, and finally, they just felt good.**

Sources:
*From breastcancer.org
**Sage Publications: Clinical Nursing Research, Vol 16, No 2, pgs 85-99 (2007);