The effect of spiritual intervention on the concentration of interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, interleukin-8 and tumor necrosis factor alpha cytokines in patients with breast cancer: A pretest–posttest experimental study

Background and Aim: Breast cancer (BC) has considerable effects on the immune system by modulating various psychological and biological aspects, especially hormonal function. Given the effectiveness of various psychological interventions on the overall health status of patients, we aimed to show the effect of the spiritual intervention on the immunological structure of patients with BC. Subjects and Methods: This was a pretest-posttest experimental study conducted from October 2017 to March 2018. There were three groups of patients with BC who referred to Shohada-e-Tajrish Hospital, Cancer Research Center, and Azar Clinic. The sample size based on Cohen's table for each group was at least 11 and taking into account the disadvantages of the subjects was 15. The selection of samples in the first stage was purposeful and based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, but they were assigned to the groups randomly. They were assigned to the experiment group and two control groups. The first group received 12 sessions of spiritual intervention, the second group received 12 sessions of nonpsychological training focused on physical care related to their illness, and the third group received no intervention. The levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were measured in all three groups by Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay before, after, and 3 months after the intervention. The data were analyzed with SPSS software version 21 and the P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The level of cytokines was significantly changed at the time of follow-up. These changes were significant between the groups who received the spiritual intervention and nonpsychological training in comparison to the group that did not receive the intervention. Moreover, there was no significant difference between the intervention group and the training group. Discussion/Conclusion: Our findings showed that spiritual intervention can increase the success of the treatment process and the improvement of the patients. Spiritual intervention may significantly affect the physical health of patients with special needs, especially cancer patients in both treatment and recovery states.