 The importance of touch in physiological development, learning patterns, and stress reduction has been demonstrated in humans and animals through years of research. Based on research which indicates touch therapies provide a significant amount of symptom relief and reduction in anxiety, a growing number of hospitals and clinics are integrating massage therapy into services provided to patients in order to ameliorate many symptoms of diagnosis andor treatment-related discomfort. Examples are the integrative medicine programs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and George Washington University Medical Center which include touch therapy modalities. Research focusing on the embodied experience of sensory phenomena such as touch is important to provide the basis for more effective care. No studies to date have focused on the self-reported experience of the cancer patient with regard to what touch means to these individuals, particularly those actively in treatment with intravenous chemotherapy. The embodied sensation of touch in these people is important to understand in order to provide more effective touch-based interventions and also to increase awareness of direct care staff, including nurses, of the profound and complex effect that all forms of touch have on those who are physically and psychically vulnerable. The stress of the diagnosis and treatment heightens patients awareness of many taken-for-granted aspects of daily interaction, including touching and being touched. The side effects of certain chemotherapy treatments can create neuropathies that make the sense of touch diminished or painful, even to the extent that putting on socks and shoes or taking a pulse or blood pressure can become excruciatingly painful experiences. By allowing people who are actively undergoing treatment for cancer to express the meaning of touch in their lives, a fuller understanding of the multiple dimensions of the experience can be achieved. Using this understanding, more effective nursing and touch interventions can be designed to enhance patient comfort. One author notes a multitude of terminologies to distinguish types of nursing touch in her literature review. She observes that, it is possible that touch is so integral ... that the need for serious research is not recognized ... it is clear that more research, and qualitative research in particular, is needed to better understand the effects and meaning of touch... p. 849. Chang 2001 stresses the need to treat physical touch in a holistic way p. 821 to positively impact the patient. She also stresses the meaning of physical touch is dependent on reciprocal expectations about touch, p.826. Based on the importance of Changs delineation of multidimensional aspects of perceptions of touch and the mutual nature of the expectations, additional study is warranted to elucidate the perceptions of touch in patients. This understanding can be used to facilitate increased quality of life in patients with cancer through better education of health care providers and integration of complementary modalities in a safe, effective plan of comprehensive care. 