Combination Therapy; Mind-body techniques may not cure cancer, but they make living with it a whole lot easier.(Cover Story)

Byline: Peg Tyre (With Hideko Takayama in Tokyo)

Akiko Negishi is no ordinary mountain climber. Fifteen years ago doctors removed a malignant lymphatic tumor from her abdomen and along with it her stomach, gall bladder and part of her spleen and pancreas. During her treatment after the operation, she went to Dr. Jinro Itami, who was convinced that cancer patients can better cope with their fear and anxiety and stimulate the immune system when working to achieve specific goals. After a year of training, Negishi climbed to the summit of Mount Fuji. "I said to myself I would live totally different from then on," she says. Since then, she's climbed 20 mountains in Japan, and her cancer hasn't come back. "At present," she says, "I feel good."

These days tens of thousands of cancer patients are using mind-body practices like conscious relaxation, talk therapy, music therapy, visualization, tai chi, qigong and prayer to help them deal with their disease. Eighty percent of cancer patients report using some kind of complementary medicine, a category that includes mind-body techniques as well as nutritional supplements and other holistic approaches. And no wonder. Scientists have found that mind-body practices help patients sleep better and cope with the pain, anxiety and depression often associated with traditional cancer treatments. Recent research has shown that mind-body practices can subtly enhance a cancer patient's immune system, too.

Among doctors, skepticism is giving way to support. For decades data-driven oncologists ignored the largely untested mind-body practices. But in the last few years, "patients have made it clear that they were eager to try it. And oncologists began looking for ways to ...