Mindfulness and Tai Chi Improve Mood in Cancer Survivors

Medscape

25-06-2025

TOPLINE:
Both Mindfulness-Based Cancer Recovery (MBCR) and Tai Chi/Qigong (TCQ) significantly improved mood in survivors of cancer, whether participants selected their preferred program or were randomly assigned to either type of program. MBCR had greater benefits in reducing tension and anger, while TCQ was particularly effective in reducing depression and boosting vigor.
METHODOLOGY:
Prior studies have shown that MBCR and TCQ can reduce distress and psychosocial symptoms in patients with cancer, but comparisons have largely been with usual care rather than active control individuals.
Researchers conducted a pragmatic, preference-based, multisite randomized controlled design trial to compare these mind-body therapies. A total of 587 distressed survivors of cancer (average age, 60.7 years; 75% women), irrespective of the stage and type of cancer, were enrolled.
Participants with a preference for either MBCR or TCQ received their preferred intervention (n = 376) and were then randomly assigned to either the immediate or waitlisted group in a 2:1 ratio. Those without a preference were randomly assigned (1:1) to either intervention (n = 211) and then to the immediate or waitlist group in a 2:1 ratio.
Participants received MBCR as a standard 9-week program of weekly in-person group meetings of 1 hour 45 minutes, along with a 6-hour weekend retreat on a Saturday between weeks 6 and 7. TCQ was offered as an 11-week program consisting of a 1.5-hour weekly group meeting and a 4-hour weekend retreat.
The primary outcome was change in total mood disturbance, measured by the Profile of Mood States, which included tension-anxiety, depression, anger-hostility, and vigor-activity subscales.
TAKEAWAY:
In the random assignment group, total mood disturbance scores decreased significantly in both the immediate MBCR (19.9 at baseline to 12.5 after treatment) and immediate TCQ (17.7 at baseline to 12.0 after treatment) groups compared with that in the waitlist control group (P for interaction = .03 and.07, respectively).
In the preference group, although total mood disturbance scores decreased in both the immediate MBCR and TCQ groups, the interaction effect relative to the waitlist control group was not significant (P = .57 and P = .09, respectively).
Participants who received MBCR showed greatest improvements in tension, anger, and vigor scores, whereas those who received TCQ showed greatest improvements in anger, depression, and vigor scores.
A combined analysis of the immediate vs waitlist groups showed substantial reductions in total mood disturbance scores with MBCR (estimate, -4.15; P = .10) and significant reductions in the scores with TCQ (estimate, -5.13; P = .01).
IN PRACTICE:
'Both MBCR and TCQ proved beneficial for improving overall mood in a broad swath of people living with cancer of different types and stages after treatment completion who were experiencing significant distress,' the authors wrote.
SOURCE:
The study, led by Linda E. Carlson, PhD, University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, was published online in Journal of Clinical Oncology.
LIMITATIONS:
Potential baseline imbalances existed between participants who chose MBCR vs TCQ or who chose to be randomly assigned. The study design required participants to have sufficient mobility, time, and energy to travel to program venues, which may have excluded some eligible candidates. Additionally, some discrepancies in dropout rates were observed across groups, although these did not violate missing at random data analytic assumptions.
DISCLOSURES:
This study was funded by grants from the Lotte & John Hecht Memorial Foundation and Enbridge Research Chair for Psychosocial Oncology. Three authors reported having ties with various sources.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.