Heart Rate Variability, Vagus Nerve and Cancer

In France, new cancer cases keep on increasing with around 150 000 deaths yearly. Cancer therapy research is constantly evolving. Indeed, several studies explore new treatments or their combination with conventional cancer treatments. But, at the same time, complementary and alternative medicines, as osteopathy, remain little explored upon their role in the combination with conventional therapy.

Several studies showed indirect interaction between vagus nerve and cancer. Firstly, vagus nerve regulates homeostasis and immunity by reducing systemic inflammation while maintaining local inflammation and antitumor effects. Secondly, vagus nerve stimulation increases Heart Rate Variability (HRV). Moreover, a higher HRV is associated with an improvement of vital prognosis in cancer patients. Vagus nerve could be stimulated by noninvasive osteopathic manipulations.

This prospective, monocentric and randomized study is a collaboration between the Centre Hospitalier d'Avignon and the Institut de Formation en Ostéopathie du Grand Avignon. It focuses on using noninvasive osteopathic mobilizations to stimulate vagus nerve. Indeed, this study aims to evaluate effects of vagus nerve osteopathic stimulations on HRV in patients with lung cancer, colorectal cancer, Non Hodgkin Lymphoma or Multiple Myeloma. More specifically, this study will tell us whether vagus nerve noninvasive osteopathic stimulations induce increase of HRV associated with a decrease of systemic inflammation and an improvement of patient's quality of life.