Most people can learn this skill. Social support seems to be enormously important in terns of improving quality of life and maybe even increasing longevity. The women who received weekly group therapy sessions and lessons in self-hypnosis experienced not only improved quality of life, but a doubling of survival time from an average of 18.9 months to 36.6 months. No definitive studies in cancer patients. Byrd showed statistically significant benefits from intercessory prayer for a group of myocardial infarction patients in the CCU at San Francisco General Hospital.
Alternative literature is often highly inaccurate.
There is significant evidence that nutritional support can decrease the side effect of conventional treatment of cancer. Vitamin C in pharmacological doses may prolong survival, except in leukemia where it may worsen the prognosis. Vitamin C does seem to decrease side effects from chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Vitamin E in animals protects against hair loss and heart damage from Doxorubicin. Selenium is correlated with decreased colon cancer rates.