Effectiveness of aromatherapy massage in the management of anxiety and depression in patients with cancer: a multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: To test the effectiveness of supplementing usual supportive care with aromatherapy massage in the management of anxiety and depression in cancer patients through a pragmatic two-arm randomized controlled trial in four United Kingdom cancer centers and a hospice.

Patients And Methods: Two hundred eighty-eight cancer patients, referred to complementary therapy services with clinical anxiety and/or depression, were allocated randomly to a course of aromatherapy massage or usual supportive care alone.

Results: Patients who received aromatherapy massage had no significant improvement in clinical anxiety and/or depression compared with those receiving usual care at 10 weeks postrandomization (odds ratio [OR], 1.

Advanced breast cancer patients' perceptions of decision making for palliative chemotherapy.

Purpose: To examine advanced breast cancer patients' perceptions of the key decision-making consultation for palliative chemotherapy.

Patients And Methods: One hundred two women with advanced breast cancer, who were offered palliative chemotherapy, participated in a study-specific semistructured interview examining perceptions of the information they had received and their involvement in the decision-making process. One hundred seventeen interviews included 70 in relation to first-line chemotherapy and 47 in relation to second-line chemotherapy (15 patients were interviewed in relation to both first- and second-line chemotherapy).