With all the horrible things that come along with advanced cancer diagnoses, experiencing pain and depression are typical among them. The drugs prescribed in these situations can not always fully treat either issue. Not to mention they usually come with undesirable side effects that patients are forced to deal with on top of their previous sufferings. Researchers at the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine have been studying new ways to relive these patients, and their recent findings promote a promising temporary solution in the form of massage.

Their study involved a group of 380 advanced cancer patients throughout fifteen different hospices in the United States. Post-treatment the patients were given massages and researchers studied the effects on both pain level and mood. There was a general improvement reported amongst those participating, due to what the researchers believe to be a brief interruption of the consistent distress they face. It has the ability to affect both physical and mental symptoms. Physically, massage can reduce the amount of inflammation and edema whilst boosting the lymphatic and blood circulation. Mentally, a good amount of endorphins are released, there is encouragement to relax and for a short time the patients are distracted from their situation.

“When patients are near the end of life, the goals of medical care change from trying to cure disease to making the patient as comfortable as possible," said Jean S. Kutner, MD, MSPH, Associate Professor of Medicine at the school and researcher for this study. "This study is important because it shows massage is a safe and effective way to provide immediate relief to patients with advanced cancer."

However, what is important to remember is that this provides only a temporary relief from the pain and depressed moods patients undergo. Even though the effects are seen immediately, they can not last over time. The researchers see this as an incentive for further studies to be conducted in order to determine a more permanent method of relieving the pain, and allow patients to live out the end of their lives in a comfortable manner.

What is encouraging is the fact that these researchers are looking to means of treatment that extended beyond the less than pleasant drugs administered during this terrible time in cancer patients’ lives.