Breast CancerNCT03253627
MBSR During AI Therapy for Breast Cancer
A study testing Health Enhancement Program and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in people with Breast Cancer and Cognitive Symptom, run by New York University at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
This study will use non-invasive neuroimaging (i.e., MRI) to examine whether Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) improves neural markers of cognitive function for postmenopausal women taking aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy for breast cancer. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 79 years, women only
- Conditions the study is for
- Breast Cancer, Cognitive Symptom
- What is being tested?
- Health Enhancement Program and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 23 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 23 Apr 2018to 8 Sep 2020
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 79 years
- Women only
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Female
- <80 years of age by date of baseline assessment visit
- Able to speak and read English
- Post-menopausal (defined as [A] amenorrhea persisting for an entire year, [B] oophorectomy or ovarian suppression/ablation, or [C] hysterectomy and age >51 years)
- Diagnosed with DCIS (stage 0) or stage I, II, or III breast cancer
- Post lumpectomy or mastectomy and any re-excisions
- Post neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy, if prescribed
- Taking aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy OR AI therapy scheduled to begin before planned post-intervention assessment visit
Who cannot join
- Stage IV (metastatic) breast cancer
- Diagnosis of a major psychiatric disorder (e.g., bipolar I disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder)
- Suicide attempt within the last 10 years
- Hospitalization or residential treatment for psychiatric illness, eating disorder, or substance abuse within the last 2 years
- History of neurological disease (e.g., Parkinson's disease, dementia)
- History of head trauma
Show all 11Show fewer
- Claustrophobia
- Unable to lie on the back
- Ever been told not to get an MRI
- MRI-incompatible metal implant*
- If a potential participant reports implanted metal objects, which might be affected by MRI magnets, the study personnel and MRI technologist will screen over the phone or in person to determine whether the potential participant would be safe during the MRI scan. A current list of implants compatible with MRI will be consulted (http://www.mrisafety.com/TMDL_list.php).
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction To Improve Cognitive Function for Postmenopausal Women With Breast Cancer
This study will use non-invasive neuroimaging (i.e., MRI) to examine whether Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) improves neural markers of cognitive function for postmenopausal women taking aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy for breast cancer. The pilot randomized controlled trial will obtain preliminary efficacy of MBSR versus Health Enhancement Program (HEP) active control to improve neural markers of cognitive function. The final sample will include 32 postmenopausal women with breast cancer. MBSR and HEP groups will meet for a matched schedule of 8 weekly 2.5-hour sessions and a one-day weekend retreat. Specimen and data collection will be done at three time points: pre-randomization (i.e., within three weeks before beginning the intervention), within three weeks after completion of the intervention, and approximately three months (+/- three weeks) post intervention. Change scores for neuroimaging parameter estimates will be correlated with change scores for measures of cognitive function and affect. Differential expression of genes will be correlated with neuroimaging parameter estimates.
Read the detailed description
Adjuvant aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy improves disease-free and overall survival for postmenopausal women after surgery for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. Among symptoms associated with AI therapy are changes in cognitive function. Up to 25% of postmenopausal women with breast cancer report that they experience changes in cognitive function during AI therapy. Studies using neuropsychological tests found subtle deteriorations in verbal and visual learning and memory-as well as concentration, working memory, and executive function-for as many as a third of these patients. Changes in cognitive function may be associated with changes in affect (e.g., worry, depressive symptoms). Neural markers of cognitive changes, including changes in brain function and structure, may underlie changes in cognitive function.
The investigators' recent preliminary neuroimaging work to describe neural markers of cognitive changes suggests that postmenopausal women with breast cancer have inefficient cognitive-emotion processing before AI therapy, as evidenced by greater neural activity in the hippocampus (working memory) and amygdala (emotion processing) during task performance compared to controls. During AI therapy, patients show differential activation compared to controls in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (executive function and working memory), medial prefrontal cortices (cortical control of amygdala responses), and hippocampus.
Stress responses could partially explain relationships between AI therapy and neural markers of cognitive changes. The Mindfulness Stress-Buffering Account suggests that interventions such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) may improve stress responses by attenuating negative appraisals of stress and reducing reactivity to stressful situations. For example, mindfulness meditation improved psychological stress responses in women with breast cancer. It improved some measures of cognitive function. Mindfulness practices reduced physiological markers of stress responses, including inflammatory markers in women with breast cancer and in stressed community adults, as well as cortisol reactivity for breast cancer survivors and during chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. Although similar neural deficits as were found in the investigators' preliminary work have been shown to improve in stressed adult populations using MBSR, it is not known whether the intervention improves neural deficits in women taking AI therapy (estrogen, production of which is blocked by AI therapy, is neuroprotective and promotes neural plasticity). Genetic variability was previously found to moderate the effect of MBSR on self-reported cognitive function. Therefore, it is possible that inter-individual variability in the expression of genes involved in stress responses could moderate relationships between AI therapy and neural markers of cognitive changes during MBSR. Taken together, MBSR may improve neural markers of cognitive changes shown in preliminary work to be deficient in postmenopausal women before and during AI therapy for breast cancer by targeting stress responses. Changes in these neural markers may correspond to improved self-report and neuropsychological measures of cognitive function.
Hypothesis: Stress reduction, moderated by gene expression, blunts the impact of AI therapy on neural markers of cognitive function, thereby improving cognitive function and affect in women with breast cancer.
- Conditions
- Breast Cancer, Cognitive Symptom
- Being tested
- Health Enhancement Program, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
- Medical subject headings
- Breast Neoplasms, Neurobehavioral Manifestations
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Health Enhancement ProgramBehavioural
Also called HEP
The HEP control, which was developed to serve as an active control to MBSR, will receive manualized health education from experts in physical activity, functional movement, music therapy, and nutrition-without mindfulness instruction-using similar modalities to MBSR training for a matched schedule.
Mindfulness-Based Stress ReductionBehavioural
Also called MBSR
The MBSR group will receive training from a certified instructor during a group-based, 2.5-hour manualized educational activity weekly for eight weeks. Activities include body scans, gentle stretching, yoga, and mindful awareness. Participants will be asked to complete daily 45-minute, audio-guided mindfulness activities and a one-day weekend retreat to reinforce learning.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| MBSR | Experimental | Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Receives: Behavioral: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction |
| Health Enhancement Program | Active comparator | Health Enhancement Program Receives: Behavioral: Health Enhancement Program |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Functional Neural Activation Parameter Estimate
global maximum cluster-level neural activation during task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging for MBSR group compared to Health Enhancement Program group in a whole-brain analysis; paradigm: Emotional Faces N-Back; conditions: happy face distractors minus no face distractors; value has no minimum or maximum; value has no reference ranges; higher values indicate more neural activation
Measured: baseline, 3 months
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted18 Aug 2017
- Study start23 Apr 2018
- Primary completion10 Dec 2019
- Study completion8 Sep 2020
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, outcome measures and adverse events reported by the sponsor.
- Other trials for Breast CancerStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by New York UniversityThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Supportive care
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- A pilot, single-center randomized controlled trial of the preliminary efficacy of an eight-week, group-based Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction intervention versus Health Enhancement Program active control (i.e., two groups, parallel design) to improve neural markers of changes in cognitive function in postmenopausal women receiving aromatase inhibitor therapy for breast cancer. Participants will be stratified in a permuted block design by receipt of chemotherapy (i.e., two strata). Data will be collected at up to three time points using a repeated measures design (i.e., pre-intervention, post-intervention, approximately three months after the intervention). The study groups will meet at NYU for MBSR or HEP. Neuropsychological, self-report, and biospecimen data collection will be conducted at the Bluestone Center. Neuroimaging data will be collected at the NYU Center for Brain Imaging.
- Masking
- Double blind
- Who is masked
- Investigator, Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 23 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- New York University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- John D Merriman, PhD, RN, Principal investigator, New York University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03253627
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- s17-00995
- Other IDs
- 4R00NR015473-03
- Status last verified
- Apr 2022
- First submitted
- 8 Aug 2017
- Last updated
- 2 Nov 2022
- Results posted
- Yes, on ClinicalTrials.gov
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: Even though the R00 study is not anticipated to reach the threshold for required genomic data sharing, the study will have in place plans for sharing de-identified data for secondary analyses with qualified investigators. The consent language for the R00 study will be worded for possible broad data sharing.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 2 Nov 2022. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction To Improve Cognitive Function for Postmenopausal Women With Breast Cancer
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03253627
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- s17-00995
- Conditions
- Breast Cancer, Cognitive Symptom
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 23 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- New York UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
- Study start
- 23 Apr 2018 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 10 Dec 2019 (actual)
- Study completion
- 8 Sep 2020 (actual)
- First posted
- 18 Aug 2017 (actual)
- Results
- Posted 19 May 2022
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
This study will use non-invasive neuroimaging (i.e., MRI) to examine whether Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) improves neural markers of cognitive function for postmenopausal women taking aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy for breast cancer. The pilot randomized controlled trial will obtain preliminary efficacy of MBSR versus Health Enhancement Program (HEP) active control to improve neural markers of cognitive function. The final sample will include 32 postmenopausal women with breast cancer. MBSR and HEP groups will meet for a matched schedule of 8 weekly 2.5-hour sessions and a one-day weekend retreat. Specimen and data collection will be done at three time points: pre-randomization (i.e., within three weeks before beginning the intervention), within three weeks after completion of the intervention, and approximately three months (+/- three weeks) post intervention. Change scores for neuroimaging parameter estimates will be correlated with change scores for measures of cognitive function and affect. Differential expression of genes will be correlated with neuroimaging parameter estimates.
Detailed description
Adjuvant aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy improves disease-free and overall survival for postmenopausal women after surgery for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. Among symptoms associated with AI therapy are changes in cognitive function. Up to 25% of postmenopausal women with breast cancer report that they experience changes in cognitive function during AI therapy. Studies using neuropsychological tests found subtle deteriorations in verbal and visual learning and memory-as well as concentration, working memory, and executive function-for as many as a third of these patients. Changes in cognitive function may be associated with changes in affect (e.g., worry, depressive symptoms). Neural markers of cognitive changes, including changes in brain function and structure, may underlie changes in cognitive function.
The investigators' recent preliminary neuroimaging work to describe neural markers of cognitive changes suggests that postmenopausal women with breast cancer have inefficient cognitive-emotion processing before AI therapy, as evidenced by greater neural activity in the hippocampus (working memory) and amygdala (emotion processing) during task performance compared to controls. During AI therapy, patients show differential activation compared to controls in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (executive function and working memory), medial prefrontal cortices (cortical control of amygdala responses), and hippocampus.
Stress responses could partially explain relationships between AI therapy and neural markers of cognitive changes. The Mindfulness Stress-Buffering Account suggests that interventions such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) may improve stress responses by attenuating negative appraisals of stress and reducing reactivity to stressful situations. For example, mindfulness meditation improved psychological stress responses in women with breast cancer. It improved some measures of cognitive function. Mindfulness practices reduced physiological markers of stress responses, including inflammatory markers in women with breast cancer and in stressed community adults, as well as cortisol reactivity for breast cancer survivors and during chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. Although similar neural deficits as were found in the investigators' preliminary work have been shown to improve in stressed adult populations using MBSR, it is not known whether the intervention improves neural deficits in women taking AI therapy (estrogen, production of which is blocked by AI therapy, is neuroprotective and promotes neural plasticity). Genetic variability was previously found to moderate the effect of MBSR on self-reported cognitive function. Therefore, it is possible that inter-individual variability in the expression of genes involved in stress responses could moderate relationships between AI therapy and neural markers of cognitive changes during MBSR. Taken together, MBSR may improve neural markers of cognitive changes shown in preliminary work to be deficient in postmenopausal women before and during AI therapy for breast cancer by targeting stress responses. Changes in these neural markers may correspond to improved self-report and neuropsychological measures of cognitive function.
Hypothesis: Stress reduction, moderated by gene expression, blunts the impact of AI therapy on neural markers of cognitive function, thereby improving cognitive function and affect in women with breast cancer.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Supportive care
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Double blind (investigator, outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- A pilot, single-center randomized controlled trial of the preliminary efficacy of an eight-week, group-based Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction intervention versus Health Enhancement Program active control (i.e., two groups, parallel design) to improve neural markers of changes in cognitive function in postmenopausal women receiving aromatase inhibitor therapy for breast cancer. Participants will be stratified in a permuted block design by receipt of chemotherapy (i.e., two strata). Data will be collected at up to three time points using a repeated measures design (i.e., pre-intervention, post-intervention, approximately three months after the intervention). The study groups will meet at NYU for MBSR or HEP. Neuropsychological, self-report, and biospecimen data collection will be conducted at the Bluestone Center. Neuroimaging data will be collected at the NYU Center for Brain Imaging.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| MBSR | Experimental | Behavioral: Mindfulness-Based Stress ReductionMindfulness-Based Stress Reduction |
| Health Enhancement Program | Active comparator | Behavioral: Health Enhancement ProgramHealth Enhancement Program |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 79 years
- Sex
- Female only
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (8 listed)
- Female
- <80 years of age by date of baseline assessment visit
- Able to speak and read English
- Post-menopausal (defined as [A] amenorrhea persisting for an entire year, [B] oophorectomy or ovarian suppression/ablation, or [C] hysterectomy and age >51 years)
- Diagnosed with DCIS (stage 0) or stage I, II, or III breast cancer
Key exclusion criteria (11 listed)
- Stage IV (metastatic) breast cancer
- Diagnosis of a major psychiatric disorder (e.g., bipolar I disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder)
- Suicide attempt within the last 10 years
- Hospitalization or residential treatment for psychiatric illness, eating disorder, or substance abuse within the last 2 years
- History of neurological disease (e.g., Parkinson's disease, dementia)
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Health Enhancement ProgramAlso: HEPThe HEP control, which was developed to serve as an active control to MBSR, will receive manualized health education from experts in physical activity, functional movement, music therapy, and nutrition-without mindfulness instruction-using similar modalities to MBSR training for a matched schedule. | Behavioural | Health Enhancement Program |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress ReductionAlso: MBSRThe MBSR group will receive training from a certified instructor during a group-based, 2.5-hour manualized educational activity weekly for eight weeks. Activities include body scans, gentle stretching, yoga, and mindful awareness. Participants will be asked to complete daily 45-minute, audio-guided mindfulness activities and a one-day weekend retreat to reinforce learning. | Behavioural | MBSR |
Primary outcome
Functional Neural Activation Parameter Estimate
Time frame: baseline, 3 months
global maximum cluster-level neural activation during task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging for MBSR group compared to Health Enhancement Program group in a whole-brain analysis; paradigm: Emotional Faces N-Back; conditions: happy face distractors minus no face distractors; value has no minimum or maximum; value has no reference ranges; higher values indicate more neural activation
Results and safety
Loading the posted results from ClinicalTrials.gov…
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 2 Nov 2022.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, baseline, all outcome measures and adverse events.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. Even though the R00 study is not anticipated to reach the threshold for required genomic data sharing, the study will have in place plans for sharing de-identified data for secondary analyses with qualified investigators. The consent language for the R00 study will be worded for possible broad data sharing.
Related trials for Breast Cancer
Active, not recruiting
Streamlined Geriatric and Oncological Evaluation Based On IC Technology
Breast Cancer, Comorbidities and Coexisting Conditions
RecruitingPhase 2
Gene Signatures to Guide HR+MBC Therapy in a Diverse Cohort
Invasive Mammary Carcinoma, Metastatic Breast Cancer
Not yet recruitingObservational study
Comparison of Reliability, Time Cost, and Participant Comfort of Lymphedema Assessments in Upper Extremity
Lymphedema, Upper Extremity Lymphedema
RecruitingPhase 3
A Study of Camrelizumab Plus Chemotherapy in Combination With or Without Famitinib as Neoadjuvant Therapy in Participants With Triple Negative Breast Cancer (BCTOP-T-N01)
TNBC - Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
RecruitingPhase 3
Testing Whether Hormone Therapy With Ribociclib is as Effective as Chemotherapy Followed by Hormone Therapy With Ribociclib for the Treatment of High Anatomic Stage Breast Cancer With Low Recurrence Risk, The RxFINE-Low Trial
Anatomic Stage II Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Anatomic Stage IIIA Breast Cancer AJCC v8
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
John D Merriman, PhD, RN principal investigator
New York University
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Health Enhancement Program and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in people with Breast Cancer and Cognitive Symptom, run by New York University at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 8 inclusion and 11 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 2 Nov 2022. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 19 May 2022). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Functional Neural Activation Parameter Estimate (time frame: baseline, 3 months). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 2 Nov 2022.