SCIENTIFIC REPORT 2004 - Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

C A N C E R P R E V E N T I O N A N D C O N T R O L P R O G R A M
MICHAEL H. ANTONI, PH.D.
Professor of Psychology
DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH
Dr. Antoni’s research interests over the past
decade have focused on examining the effects
of stressors and stress management interventions
on the adjustment to, and physical course
of, diseases such as breast cancer, cervical cancer,
prostate cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, and
HIV infection. He also has examined some of the
psychobiological mechanisms that might explain
ways in which stressful events and psychosocial
interventions contribute to the adjustment to,
and physical course of, these diseases looking specifically
at psychological intervening variables
(stress appraisal processes, coping behaviors, and
social resources) and biological/physiological variables
(endocrine and immune system functioning).
For the past four years, Dr. Antoni has been
funded by the NCI through a five-year P50 Center
for Psycho-Oncology Research (CPOR) grant,
which conducts bio-psychosocial research on the
inter-relationships between cognition, emotions,
biological processes, and physical health in the
context of several cognitive-behavioral stress
management (CBSM) randomized clinical trials.
Populations include those at high risk for cancer
and those dealing with cancer diagnoses including
cervical neoplasia, breast cancer, and prostate
cancer. The grant includes funding for four clinical
trials, five core laboratories dedicated to providing
psychosocial and biological mechanism
and outcome data, as well as statistical/data management
for the four clinical trials. A number of
UM/Sylvester investigators including those from
the departments of Microbiology and Immunology,
Psychology, and Medicine, have ongoing
pilot studies designed to elaborate on biopsychosocial
pathways being explored in the
CPOR parent trials.
Generally speaking, most of Dr. Antoni’s research
efforts have focused on using information
derived from studies examining the effects of field
and laboratory stressors to develop stress reduction
interventions that are specifically tailored to
the disease-related issues, educational levels, and
cultural characteristics of the target groups. This
has resulted in the development of treatment
manuals used for conducting intervention
groups, which are in turn used to test the efficacy
of treatment programs in the context of randomized
clinical trials. In addition to testing the efficacy
of these interventions in homogeneous
populations, this program also will conduct
generalizability studies designed to see how well
the interventions work in diverse patients groups
(e.g., inner city HIV+ women at risk for cervical
cancer and Spanish-speaking breast cancer patients).
The overarching goal is to develop theoretically
driven and empirically supported
psychosocial interventions with utility for secondary
and tertiary prevention in persons diagnosed
and treated for cancer.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2002
Antoni, MH, Cruess, DG, Klimas, N, Maher, K,
Cruess, S, Kumar, M, Lutgendorf, S, Ironson, G,
Schneiderman, N, and Fletcher, MA. Stress management
and immune system reconstitution in
symptomatic HIV-infected gay men over time:
effects on transitional naïve T cells
(CD4(+)CD45RA(+)CD29(+)). American Journal
of Psychiatry 159:143-45, 2002.
Knippels, HM, Goodkin, K, Weiss, JJ, Wilkie,
FL, and Antoni, MH. The importance of cognitive
self-report in early HIV-1 infection: validation
of a cognitive functional status subscale.
AIDS 16:259-67, 2002.
Culver, JL, Arena, PL, Antoni, MH, and Carver,
CS. Coping and distress among women under
treatment for early stage breast cancer: comparing
African Americans, Hispanics and non-Hispanic
Whites. Psycho-oncology 11:495-504, 2002.
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UM/Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center Scientific Report 2004