Mindfulness and tai chi practices ease sleep problems, fatigue and pain after cancer treatment

The cancer journey for many patients doesn’t end after treatment. Many live with long-term side effects that affect their ability to sleep and cause pain, impacting daily life. A new study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology finds mindfulness and tai chi practices can help cancer survivors manage those symptoms. 

The Mindfulness and Tai Chi for Cancer Health (MATCH) study looked at more than 500 cancer survivors with varying types and stages of cancer. It found that patients experienced less pain, fatigue and sleep problems after participating in the interventions. The study was a collaborative effort between researchers at the University of Calgary, University of Toronto and Mass General Brigham in Boston, Mass.

“More and more people with cancer are surviving longer term, but often they are struggling with long-term side effects that can be difficult to manage," says Dr. Linda E. Carlson, PhD, a professor at UCalgary and lead investigator on the study. “This study highlights that the cancer experience doesn’t just end for survivors after active treatment is done, and we hope it starts a conversation amongst medical teams about how to incorporate these mind-body therapies into overall cancer care.”

Mindfulness-based cancer recovery (MBCR) involves meditation practices, breathing techniques, gentle stretching, group discussion and incorporation of attitudes like acceptance and compassion to help manage patients’ responses to various stages of illness and treatment. Tai chi and qigong (TCQ) are ancient Chinese mind-body practices that integrate gentle flowing movements with heightened attention to body sensations and breathing, which also helps patients regulate their thoughts and emotions.

The MATCH study allowed participants to choose the practice they would like to do. If they didn’t have a preference, an intervention was assigned to them. The study compared outcomes from participants to patients on a waitlist for the trial.

 

 

 

 

Carlson has been studying mindfulness practices for more than 25 years. Her work in the field has led to mindfulness-based interventions now being recommended for regular use in supportive cancer care by professional bodies such as the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

“I can start the day feeling fresh and limber,” says Ken Taub, a cancer patient and participant in the MBCR program which he joined with his wife, Mary. “I no longer have any stiffness for the first 30 minutes in the morning. In fact, I no longer have any discomfort in my back while walking, lifting etcetera. It has been a tremendous help navigating this most unpleasant journey.”

Mary attended as his caregiver support and found the practice to be lifechanging. As someone who has seen her husband go through incredibly challenging times, Mary has seen a shift in his perspective that she credits to the mindfulness practice. “He was still open to receiving the good in each day even though he was going through a really tough time.,” she says. Since completing the program, Mary and Ken have continued to incorporate mindfulness practices into their daily lives.

"These findings reinforce the value of a whole-person approach to cancer survivorship care," says author Dr. Peter Wayne, PhD, director of the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Mass General Brigham. "We found that both mindfulness-based cancer recovery and tai chi-qigong helped participants manage some of the most common and burdensome challenges faced after cancer treatment, including fatigue, pain and, in the case of tai chi-qigong, sleep difficulties. The strong relationships among improvements in these symptoms suggest that mind-body interventions may help support health and well-being in an integrated way."

Participants in the study found that even if they were apprehensive to start the practice, they were able to approach it in a way that didn’t feel daunting to them, making it more approachable and therefore easy to maintain over time.

Jane Burns originally started her mindfulness journey at Wellspring Cancer Care, a community-based cancer support centre, where she took a breathwork class and then joined the MATCH study a month later. She participated in TCQ and credits it as the activity that got her on her feet again. “It gave me a lot of confidence. It showed me I could still do things. I could move and although it was hard to start, over time, it started to feel really good,” Burns says.

Cynthia Good participated in the TCQ 11-week program and found that having a daily practice was a form of self-care that she didn’t consider before. “There had to be more attention paid to the emotional stresses that come with cancer,” says Good. “If this kind of practice could be incorporated from the beginning, that could help a lot of people.”

For Carlson, that is the goal. She wants to make mindfulness and tai chi practices more available and accessible to people with cancer and see it included in clinical practice guideline recommendations worldwide.