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A lumpectomy followed by radiation treatment may be just as effective in treating breast cancer as a mastectomy. A lumpectomy is a method of removing the tumor while preserving most of the breast. Of 237 women with breast cancer followed by the National Cancer Institute, 116 had received a mastectomy and 121 had a lumpectomy plus radiation. Ten-year survival rates were 77% in the lumpectomy group and 75% in the mastectomy group. Seventy-two percent of the women in the lumpectomy group were in remission at 10 years, compared to 69% of those in the mastectomy group. Eighteen patients in the lumpectomy group had a recurrence of cancer in the breast and were successfully treated with a mastectomy. Fifteen were disease-free three months to 10 years after the mastectomy. In both groups, women with smaller tumors and no spread of cancer to the lymph nodes had better survival rates.

Hypnotic suggestion appears to have no effect on the delayed hypersensitivity response to injections of varicella-zoster (VZ) antigens. The VZ virus is responsible for both chickenpox and shingles. Eleven men and 13 women who showed an ability to alter skin temperature while hypnotized were injected with VZ antigens. Immediately after the injections participants were either hypnotized and under suggestion to enhance the delayed hypersensitivity response, hypnotized and under suggestion to suppress the delayed hypersensitivity response, hypnotized and under suggestion to relax or not hypnotized. Skin tests were conducted 24 and 48 hours later. Skin reactions to the VZ-antigen injections did not vary significantly under the four testing conditions., Objective.--To determine whether individuals selected for good general health, high hypnotizability, and the ability to alter skin temperature under hypnotic suggestion can influence the delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response to varicella-zoster (VZ) antigen under hypnotic suggestion. Design.--A blinded clinical trial using a repeated measures design with subjects serving as their own controls. Subjects were randomly assigned to undergo a predetermined sequence of four different experimental conditions, occurring at weekly intervals, with each condition including VZ skin testing: (1) hypnosis with suggestions to enhance the DTH response to VZ antigen; (2) hypnosis with suggestions to suppress the DTH response; (3) hypnosis with suggestions for relaxation only; and (4) skin testing without hypnosis. Setting.--A National Institutes of Health--supported clinical research center in a teaching hospital. Subjects.--A stratified sample of 24 ambulatory, healthy, highly hypnotizable, volunteer college students selected for their above-average ability to alter skin temperature after hypnotic suggestions and their positive baseline responses to VZ antigen. There were 11 males and 13 females with a mean [+ or -] SD age of 22[+ or -]6 years. The mean[+ or -]SD hypnotizability score (Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility) was 11[+ or -]1. Interventions.--Intradermal skin testing with VZ antigen (Mantoux method) and hypnotic suggestion. Main Outcome Measures.--Areas of induration of the DTH response measured at 24 and 48 hours after injection of antigen. Results.--The area of the DTH response was not affected by the experimental interventions. The area of erythema was likewise unaffected. Conclusions.--Our subjects were unable to alter their DTH responses using hypnotic suggestion.