In 2019, Nantucket Bake Shop’s Louise Hubbard was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that forms in plasma cells in bone marrow. In April 2022, nearly three years after her diagnosis, Hubbard was chosen to join a trial for CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T-cell therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital. But between going back and forth to Boston and developing side effects like plantar fasciitis (an inflammation of the plantar fascia that causes sharp pain in the heel or bottom of the foot), one thing was clear: Hubbard needed to take care of herself in more ways than one. “One of the things that was stressed to me by my oncologist, Dr. [Andrew] Branagan, was to have massages and do things that made me more comfortable,” Hubbard says.

This led her to Lavender Farm Wellness, where Nantucket Cottage Hospital nurse practitioner Ugne Aleknaite promotes functional medical tools for better health. These steps include massage therapy, Gyrotonics, craniosacral therapy, advance bodywork therapies, meditation and oncology massage, through a partnership with Cape Wellness Collaborative. Internal funding from the wellness center itself helps reduce the cost of massages for patients with cancer. “The application process was very easy,” Hubbard, now 79, says. “The staff works with you in order to begin the process. So for those who can’t afford them, this is something that’s available for all cancer patients.”

Hubbard was placed on a regimen of massage every two weeks, which has now been extended to once a month based on need. “I would come out of there feeling like a million bucks,” she says, noting that in addition to helping her pain, it has also helped her to relax during her treatment and in her current remission.

According to Aleknaite, what Hubbard experienced is exactly the type of benefits intended for what she defines as lifestyle medicine. “The most powerful thing about massage therapy specific to the cancer population, is the ability to experience wellness in one’s body even for a short period of the time, by bringing down the level of stress and supporting the trajectory of wellness in one’s being,” explains Aleknaite, who also serves as the oncology program leader providing Mass General cancer services. Other benefits of oncology massage include the possibility of relieving pain, improving sleep and lessening fatigue.

The nurse practitioner and massage therapist notes that massage can also help with peripheral neuropathy, a common side effect from chemotherapy that damages the nerves and can often lead to tingling, numbness, weakness, discomfort, pain and cramps in the hands and feet. “With movement of the strokes, massage is really good at improving circulation in the extremities and bringing the nutrients to the tissues to help with symptoms of peripheral neuropathy,” Aleknaite explains.

Given these benefits, oncology-catered lifestyle medicine that addresses the health impact of nutrition, physical activity, social connections, stress reduction, avoidance of risky substances and proper sleep needs to be more widely accessible both on and off the island, according to Aleknaite. While there’s a lot of growth needed, she’s taken a personal stride toward providing better education about the benefits by creating a webinar series with the multidisciplinary professional team at Mass General Brigham Cancer Center that patients and clinicians can access on demand on the center’s website. She recently presented the series at the American College of Lifestyle Medicine Conference and hopes it will eventually be used to bring more positive impacts to those with cancer as well as survivors.

Lifestyle medicine, which goes beyond pharmaceuticals and conventional Western treatments, can be equally effective at increasing patient comfort and improving their state of mind.