INTRODUCTION: Many breast cancer patients and survivors experience pain and 
emotional stress related to their disease, its diagnostic procedures, or 
treatment. Hypnosis has long been used for the treatment of such symptoms. The 
aim of this review was to systematically assess the effectiveness of hypnosis in 
women with breast cancer, breast cancer survivors, and in women undergoing 
diagnostic breast biopsy.
METHODS: PubMed, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, and CAMBASE were 
screened through February 2014 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of 
hypnosis in women with breast cancer or undergoing diagnostic breast biopsy. 
RCTs on postmenopausal women without a history of breast cancer were also 
eligible. Primary outcomes were pain, distress, fatigue, nausea/vomiting, and 
hot flashes. Safety was defined as secondary outcome measure. Risk of bias was 
assessed by 2 reviewers independently using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool.
RESULTS: Thirteen RCTs with 1357 patients were included. In women undergoing 
diagnostic breast biopsy (3 RCTs), hypnosis positively influenced pain and 
distress; 1 RCT on breast cancer surgery found effects of hypnosis on pain, 
distress, fatigue, and nausea. For women undergoing radiotherapy (3 RCTs), 
hypnosis combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy improved distress and 
fatigue. In 3 RCTs on women with and without a history of breast cancer 
experiencing hot flashes, hypnosis improved hot flashes and distress. Three RCTs 
on women with metastatic breast cancer found effects on pain and distress.
CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review found sparse but promising evidence for the 
effectiveness of hypnosis in breast cancer care. While more research is needed 
to underpin these results, hypnosis can be considered as an ancillary 
intervention in the management of breast cancer-related symptoms.