Innovation in cancer managementSpiritual Care and Changes in Receptor Gene Expression inBreast Cancer Patients

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in females in Iran and in most of thedeveloped countries. Behavioral and clinical studies have shown that having chronicstress and impaired mental and spiritual condition of each individual predisposeseveral types of cancer including breast cancer. Research results showed thatreligious and spiritual factors correlate with indices of physical consequences such asheart disease, cancer and death. Also, there is a confirmed relation betweenpsychiatric conditions and changes in receptor gene expression in depression anxietyand social dysfunction. Different studies demonstrated the role of neurotransmittersin occurrence and progression of cancers. They affected cells by their various typesof receptors. In accordance with our previous studies, the most effective genes inpsychiatric conditions and thus physical conditions are Dopamin and Serotoninreceptors. Accordingly, the study was conducted to evaluate effects of spiritualtherapy on changes in Dopamine and Serotonin receptor gene expressions in breastcancer patients and hence, determine specific gene receptors to be held responsible.90 female volunteers, including 30 healthy individuals and 60 diagnosed with breastcancer considering exclusion criteria, were selected to run the study. The breastcancer patients were further categorized into experimental and control groups of 30.The experimental group received the intervention and the control group remained onthe waiting list. Blood samples were collected both prior to and after the interventionand compared.Total mRNA was extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). RTPCRwas performed to confirm the presence of different dopamine and serotoninreceptors (DRD1-DRD5 & 5HT2A-5HT3A). Dopamine and serotonin receptor geneexpression changes in intervention and control groups were evaluated by real timePCR technique.We observed that DRD2-DRD4 in the control group (breast cancer patients) PBMCincreased compare to healthy individuals. It was also observed that DRD2-DRD4 inintervention group PBMC decreased compared to the control group and even lowerthan those of healthy individuals. Moreover, real-time PCR data indicated significantpromotion in expression of 5HT3AR and 5HT2AR in PBMC in breast cancer. Ourresults indicated significant reduction in expression of 5HT3AR and 5HT2AR inintervention group compared with the control group but there were no significantchanges in comparison with healthy samples. The findings were of great significancein prevention and treatment of cancer because they revealed the possibility of usingother types of treatments such as spiritual interventions apart from conventionalmedical treatments