Cancer and Hypnosis

In a study of 150 participants concluding in 2015, a nurse and researcher at the City of Hope Cancer Center studied 150 cancer patients and found that 78% of those who used hypnosis experienced significant, lasting reduction in symptoms such as anxiety, pain, sleeplessness, fatigue, nausea and vomiting.[1]

In 2013, researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the City of Hope Cancer Center reviewed the empirical literature on hypnosis as a cancer prevention and control technique. They concluded that hypnosis has strong support for use in surgery and other invasive procedures and shows promise to help with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and metastatic disease.[2]

In 2005, researchers from hospitals and hospices in the United Kingdom studied the impact of hypnosis on 20 hospice cancer patients. They found that hypnotherapy did help the cancer patients with insomnia, frequent bowel actions, itchiness, pain, chemotherapy side effects like nausea and fatigue, and anxiety. They also concluded that the “best time for hypnotherapy to be offered to cancer patients is right at the time of diagnosis.”[3]