Meditation Plays Important Role In Cancer Recovery

(NBC) -- All week NBC news focusing on stories about cancer, in preparation for the big "Stand Up to Cancer" telecast that'll be aired on all 3 major networks Friday night.

This next story is about the topic is about meditation and whether nurturing that mind/body connection plays any significant role in battling cancer.

Marilynn Anderhalt has had cancer four times.

"The whole world is carrying on as normal and you're different," said Anderhalt.

She's had various parts of her body cut out, including much of her jaw. For her, meditation and yoga are more than just stress relievers. They're cancer fighters.

"I feel better now than I ever have," said Anderhalt.

For years, research has shown that meditation in its various forms lowers blood pressure, boosts the immune system, eliminates stress hormones and battles depression.

But, in 30 years of treating cancer patients, Dr. Alexandra Levine has seen it do much more.

"I have many examples over the years of things I could not explain. It's real. It's out there," said Levine.

Levine saw one patient stop uncontrollable bleeding just by meditating. The same patient then beat the odds with a terminal form of cancer.

"The average survival for blastcrisis cgl is about 12 weeks untreated at that time. He lived for 3 years. And it wasn't related to anything I did," Levine said.

"A recent study by UCLA showed that meditation actually helped slow disease progression.

The study focused on HIV, but researchers said it could apply to other auto immune diseases."

Scientists say the future will bring more evidence of this connection.

"We are living in such an exciting era for patients who have cancer. I have been doing this for many decades and this is the moment," Levine said.

For now, being "in" the moment is helping people like Marilynn Anderhalt stay cancer-free.