Mind-Body Group Interventions for Psychological Distress in Young Breast Cancer Survivors

NCT07501637 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: IRB-300016383UAB
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 30
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This is a two-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) to determine the feasibility of a larger, fully powered trial in younger ER+ BCS undergoing endocrine therapy in the Deep South and to evaluate preliminary effectiveness of a breath-based group intervention- Breath-Body-Mind (BBM), a trauma-informed program emphasizing slow-paced coherent resonance breathing on psychological and physiological outcomes. The second arm, a survivorship education program (SEP), will serve as an attention-control to match contact time and group setting to control for placebo effects. This project will use multi-source and multimodal data to generate foundational insights into a stress-targeted intervention for an understudied survivorship population. Outcome measures will be assessed across all arms and will include self-reported measures, fMRI, neuro-endocrine-immune blood markers, multi-omics analyses, and physiological measures through a wrist-worn wearable device (GENEActiv). Primary outcomes: 1\) Feasibility of study as measured by rates of enrollment, randomization, retention, and study completion. We will also develop a data collection system and evaluate its usefulness and ability to scale for a future trial. Secondary outcomes: 1\) Change in psychological distress (Impact of Event Scale-Revised, IES-R) related to cancer diagnosis and treatment between baseline and 6 months after workshop. Exploratory outcomes:

1. 1.Fatigue using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F)
2. 2.Sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the GENEActive device
3. 3.Pain using the Brief Pain Index (BPI),
4. 4.Anxiety and depression symptoms using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)
5. 5.Medication adherence using the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale
6. 6.Interoceptive awareness using the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA)
7. 7.Perceived social support using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS)
8. 8.Neurocognitive function (attention, working memory, processing speed, and executive functioning) using NIH toolbox
9. 9.Overall quality of life will be measured using the Whole Person Health Index (WPHI).
10. 10.Additional cancer-related outcomes will include the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Endocrine Symptoms (FACT-ES) and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Breast 23 (EORTC QLQ-BR23) body image subscale.
11. 11.The Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (ACE-Q) and the Big Five Inventory-2 Short Form (BFI-2-S) will be used to assess early life stress and personality traits that may moderate response to the intervention.
12. 12.Peripheral biomarkers will be measured, including inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α), neurotrophic factors (BDNF), neuroendocrine hormones (cortisol, oxytocin), fasting cardiometabolic markers (glucose, insulin), and blood pressure.
13. 13.Examine neurobiological mechanisms using resting-state fMRI (brain connectivity changes), and multi-omics profiling (epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics).

Conditions

Breast Cancer

Keywords

Breast cancer survivors; Breath-Body-Mind; survivorship education program; psychological distress; fatigue; breast cancer; endocrine therapy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Overall percentage rate of recruitment.

  To assess the overall percentage rate of recruitment.

  baseline, 6 months

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Change in psychological distress

  Baseline, 6 months

Study Arms (1)

Breast cancer survivors

EXPERIMENTAL

Younger ER+ breast cancer survivors (BCS), aged 18-50

Behavioral: Breath-Body-Mind (BBM); Behavioral: Survivorship education program (SEP)

Interventions

Breath-Body-Mind (BBM) BEHAVIORAL

The BBM program involves a 12-hour structured training provided virtually, 4 hours/day for 3 consecutive days, followed by 8 weeks of once-a-week online group practice (45 min per session) and daily home practice (20 min per day of coherent breathing with some movement practices). From week 9 onwards, online group practice will be offered once a month for 4 months. BBM entails qigong movements and gentle, coherent breathing (also called Resonance Breathing) through the nose at 5 breath cycles per minute (cpm), with an equal length of inhalation and exhalation, optimizing HRV. The BBM workshop teaches participants how to become aware of their psychophysiological states and how to use BBM techniques to balance their stress response systems.

Breast cancer survivors

Survivorship education program (SEP) BEHAVIORAL

This survivorship education program will serve as the control arm. It comprises informational modules focused on recovery after cancer treatment, including managing fatigue and side effects and navigating follow-up care, communication strategies, body image, and planning for long-term wellness. Control participants will have a contact and data acquisition protocol similar to those in the BBM group. The control intervention will also be administered virtually over 3 consecutive days with the same number of contact hours as the BBM intervention. Participants will be asked to reflect on and apply the strategies discussed (e.g., goal setting, self-monitoring) during an 8-week remote follow-up. Participants will meet once a week with the facilitator online in a group education format to discuss challenges and reinforce learning. From week 9 onwards, online group meetings will be offered once a month for 4 months.

Breast cancer survivors

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 50 Years
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• They should be within two years of initial diagnosis.
• Patients scoring 0-1 on the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) scale will be accepted.
• Patients should have completed chemo, surgery, and/or radiation components of their planned therapy regimen at least 6 months ago; they should be positive for estrogen-receptor breast cancer and currently on anti-estrogen therapy (tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors: letrozole, anastrozole, exemestane).
• Eligible patients will be screened for distress using the IES-R scale. Individuals with scores greater than or equal to 24, will be included in the study.
• Individuals must also be motivated to attend a 3-day virtual workshop, which requires a total commitment of approximately 12 hours virtually.
• They must be willing to participate in a weekly zoom group session for 8-weeks after attending the workshop and then once monthly afterwards up until the 6-month follow up data collection.
• They must be willing to do a 10-20-minute daily practice at home, at least 3 times a week, during the 6-month follow-up period.
• They should also be prepared for three clinical visits (one hour each) for specimen and blood collection at baseline, week 8, and 6 months, as well as three additional visits (15 minutes each) for wearable data upload.
• A subset of participants (n=10) selected for MRI will be screened for claustrophobia and those qualifying (CLQ \<25) will be selected for MRI sub-study (exploratory aim of this study).
• If selected for MRI sub-study, two additional clinical visits (one hour each) will be required.

You may not qualify if:

• Male patients are excluded.
• Individuals with a recent history (within past three months) of cardiac arrhythmia, unstable or uncontrolled respiratory disorders such as COPD or asthma, or myocardial infarction, angina.
• Participants with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score of 2 or higher
• Breast cancer patients receiving CDK 4/6 inhibitor-based regimens or GnRH antagonist regimens, will not be eligible.
• Patients with IES-R scores less than or equal to 23 will be excluded from the study.
• Recent surgery (within 3 months) is not excluded unless, in the opinion of the research team, it would substantially interfere with the ability of the person to participate in the intervention.
• Prisoners, pregnant women, and non-English-speaking individuals will not be included.
• A subset of participants (n=10) selected for MRI will be screened for claustrophobia and those with a tendency towards claustrophobic events (CLQ \>25) will be excluded from MRI scanning.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Alabama at Birmingham: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama, 35294, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Breast Neoplasms; Fatigue

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Breast Diseases; Skin Diseases; Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Ritu Aneja, PhD

  University of Alabama at Birmingham

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Ritu Aneja Professor, Associate Dean, PhD

CONTACT

205-934-2277; raneja@uab.edu

Diviya Bharathi Ravikumar, MBBS

CONTACT

770-654-8798; dbraviku@uab.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor, Associate Dean

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 24, 2026
• First Posted: March 30, 2026
• Study Start (Estimated): July 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 31, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 31, 2027
• Last Updated: March 30, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-03

Locations

US (1)