New cancer approaches aim to calm anxiety
chicago — Meditation, relaxation and psychological counselling are becoming important tools in the care of people with cancer, according to multiple clinical trials released at the world’s largest conference on cancer.
The research unveiled at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference is part of a new push by oncologists to focus on not just killing tumors, but boosting the morale and mental health of people who are reeling from the shock of being diagnosed with cancer.
For many women who survive a bout with cancer, the fear that it will return can be debilitating, and may interfere with work and family relationships.
About 50 per cent of all cancer survivors and 70 per cent of young breast cancer survivors report moderate to high fear of recurrence, according to one study led by Jane Beith, a medical oncologist at the University of Sydney in Australia.
She and colleagues developed an intervention called Conquer Fear, in which trained therapists met 222 patients for five one hour to 90-minute-long sessions over 10 weeks.
They talked about accepting uncertainty and teaching strategies to control worrying, as well as how to focus on life goals.
Stretching and meditation were also part of the treatment.
“The reduction in fear of recurrence in the psychological intervention group was large enough to improve survivors’ psychological and emotional wellbeing,” said Beith.
Using a 42-item questionnaire called Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory (FCRI), researchers found that the fear of cancer was reduced significantly in those who went through therapy — by 18 points on average in the intervention group compared to 7.6 points in a control group that did not receive the same attention.
Another study, carried out in Canada, showed that brief sessions of psychotherapy could also benefit people with advanced cancer.
A randomised clinical trial enrolled 305 patients late-stage cancer to study an intervention, called Managing Cancer And Living Meaningfully (CALM). — AFP