Abstract
Purpose of Review
Many people living with cancer use complementary therapies, and some of the most popular are mind-body therapies (MBTs), including relaxation and imagery, hypnosis, yoga, meditation, tai chi and qigong, and art therapies. The efficacy of these modalities was reviewed by assessing recent findings in the context of cancer care.
Recent Findings
These therapies show efficacy in treating common cancer-related side effects, including nausea and vomiting, pain, fatigue, anxiety, depressive symptoms and improving overall quality of life. Some also have effects on biomarkers such as immune function and stress hormones. Overall studies lack large sample sizes and active comparison groups. Common issues around clearly defining treatments including standardizing treatment components, dose, intensity, duration and training of providers make generalization across studies difficult.
Summary
MBTs in cancer care show great promise and evidence of efficacy for treating many common symptoms. Future studies should investigate more diverse cancer populations using standardized treatment protocols and directly compare various MBTs to one another.
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References
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Acknowledgements
Dr. Carlson holds the Enbridge Research Chair in Psychosocial Oncology, co-funded by the Alberta Cancer Foundation and the Canadian Cancer Society, Alberta/NWT Division. Dr. Zelinski holds a Cumming School of Medicine Postdoctoral Fellowship. Kirsti Toivonen is supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Doctoral Award. Michelle Flynn is supported by a Canada Graduate Scholarship-Master’s award through Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Maryam Qureshi holds the Alberta Innovates Health Research Summer Studentship for the summer of 2017.
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Linda E. Carlson has written two books about mindfulness meditation, one of the interventions reviewed in this paper, and she receives royalties for sales of these books.
Erin Zelinski declares that she has no conflict of interest.
Kirsti Toivonen declares that she has no conflict of interest.
Michelle Flynn declares that she has no conflict of interest.
Maryam Qureshi declares that she has no conflict of interest.
Katherine-Ann Piedalue declares that she has no conflict of interest.
Rachel Grant declares that she has no conflict of interest.
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Carlson, L.E., Zelinski, E., Toivonen, K. et al. Mind-Body Therapies in Cancer: What Is the Latest Evidence?. Curr Oncol Rep 19, 67 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-017-0626-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-017-0626-1