Mazzocco (Ieo): “Psycho-emotional well-being improves the efficacy of therapies”

“Oncological disease has an undeniable impact on mental health. As we know, body and mind are interconnected and psycho-emotional distress has been defined as the sixth vital sign. This means that, in cancer patients, we absolutely must carry out screening and detect this vital sign, i.e. the psychological and emotional state of the patient, so that we can not only produce well-being during the treatment process, but also increase the effectiveness of cancer treatments, given the latest scientific evidence”. Thus, Ketti Mazzocco, associate professor of psychology at the University of Milan and psycho-oncologist at the European Institute of Oncology (IEO) in Milan, explained the role of the psycho-oncologist speaking today in the Lombardy capital at the presentation of the national campaign ‘Breast cancer and quality of life’, promoted by the Italian Association of Medical Oncology Foundation (AIOM) with the unconditional contribution of Gilead.

Regarding “psychological emotional support for the patient after diagnosis”, the expert observes that it is “important, for the psycho-oncologist, to also work on what was before the patient because that before brought us to where the disease arrived and now there is a lot of evidence that tells us that psychological and social factors, as well as environmental ones, impact and contribute to a low-grade inflammation that contributes to the onset of cancer. So as a psycho-oncologist – she concludes – I also support the promotion of a change in the self that allows me to face life in a different way, compared to how it was faced before the disease”.