Trial reportPsychosomatic medicine2009
A psychological intervention reduces inflammatory markers by alleviating depressive symptoms: secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Psychosomatic medicine, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 120 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychological interventions for women with non-metastatic breast cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Psychosocial interventions reduce cortisol in breast cancer patients: systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Pooled it
- The effects of self-management interventions on depressive symptoms in adults with chronic physical disease(s) experiencing depressive symptomatology: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Psychosocial Interventions and Immune System Function: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.JAMA psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Effects of psycho-behavioral interventions on immune functioning in cancer patients: a systematic review.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2014Pooled it
- Mediators of change in psychosocial interventions for cancer patients: a systematic review.Behavioral medicine (Washington, D.C.) · 2012Pooled it
- The effect of dexmedetomidine premedication on postoperative systemic inflammatory response in children undergoing hernia repair surgery: A randomized controlled trial.Paediatric anaesthesia · 2021Trial
- Lemons to lemonade: Effects of a biobehavioral intervention for cancer patients on later life changes.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2019Trial
- Cells, cytokines, chemokines, and cancer stress: A biobehavioral study of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.Cancer · 2018Trial
- Web-based collaborative care intervention to manage cancer-related symptoms in the palliative care setting.Cancer · 2016Trial
- Postsurgical Depressive Symptoms and Proinflammatory Cytokine Elevations in Women Undergoing Primary Treatment for Breast Cancer.Psychosomatic medicine · 2016Trial
- A relaxation technique enhances psychological well-being and immune parameters in elderly people from a nursing home: a randomized controlled study.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2014Trial
- Association of the physiological stress response with depressive symptoms in patients with breast cancer.Psychosomatic medicine · 2014Trial
- Decrease in depression symptoms is associated with longer survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer: a secondary analysis.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2011Trial
- Evaluating the effectiveness and implementation of evidence-based treatment: A multisite hybrid design.The American psychologistTrial
- Age-dependent associations of psychological and family factors on systemic inflammation in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivors.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2026Article
- Fascin-1 Limits Secondary Damage by Preventing Oxidative‑Stress‑Induced Microglial Death After Spinal Cord Injury.Neurochemical research · 2026Article
- Beyond survival: psychoneuroimmunology-driven cancer psychological rehabilitation-a paradigm shift from symptom management to biobehavioral remodeling.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
- Biological mechanisms of cancer-related fatigue in breast cancer survivors after treatment: a scoping review.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2025Article
- Associations Between Psycho-Social-Spiritual Interventions, Fewer Aggressive End-of-Life Measures, and Increased Time After Final Oncologic Treatment.The oncologist · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo test experimentally whether a psychological intervention reduces depression-related symptoms and markers of inflammation among cancer patients and to test one mechanism for the intervention effects. Depression and inflammation are common among cancer patients. Data suggest that inflammation can contribute to depressive symptoms, although the converse remains untested.
methodsAs part of a randomized clinical trial, newly diagnosed breast cancer patients (n = 45) with clinically significant depressive symptoms were evaluated and randomized to psychological intervention with assessment or assessment only study arms. The intervention spanned 12 months, with assessments at baseline, 4, 8, and 12 months. Mixed-effects modeling tested the hypothesis that the intervention reduced self-reported depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale, Profile of Mood States Depression and Fatigue subscales, and Medical Outcomes Study-Short Form 36 Bodily Pain subscale) and immune cell numbers that are elevated in the presence of inflammation (white blood cell count, neutrophil count, and helper/suppressor ratio). Mediation analyses tested whether change in depressive symptoms, pain, or fatigue predicted change in white blood cell count, neutrophil count, or the helper/suppressor ratio.
resultsThe intervention reduced significantly depressive symptoms, pain, fatigue, and inflammation markers. Moreover, the intervention effect on inflammation was mediated by its effect on depressive symptoms.
conclusionsThis is the first experiment to test whether psychological treatment effective in reducing depressive symptoms would also reduce indicators of inflammation. Data show that the intervention reduced directly depressive symptoms and reduced indirectly inflammation. Psychological treatment may treat effectively depressive symptoms, pain, and fatigue among cancer patients.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.