Acceptance and commitment therapy for breast cancer survivors with fear of cancer recurrence: A 3-arm pilot randomized controlled trial

Cancer. 2020 Jan 1;126(1):211-218. doi: 10.1002/cncr.32518. Epub 2019 Sep 20.

Abstract

Background: Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) has a profound negative impact on quality of life (QOL) for many cancer survivors. Breast cancer survivors (BCS) are particularly vulnerable, with up to 70% reporting clinically significant FCR. To the authors' knowledge, evidence-based interventions for managing FCR are limited. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) promotes psychological flexibility in managing life's stressors. The current study examined the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of group-based ACT for FCR in BCS.

Methods: Post-treatment BCS (91 patients with stage I-III disease) with clinical FCR randomly were assigned to ACT (6 weekly 2-hour group sessions), survivorship education (SE; 6 weekly 2-hour group sessions), or enhanced usual care (EUC; one 30-minute group coaching session with survivorship readings). FCR severity (primary outcome) and avoidant coping, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, depression, QOL, and other FCR-related variables (secondary outcomes) were assessed at baseline (T1), after the intervention (T2), 1 month after the intervention (T3), and 6 months after the intervention (T4) using intent-to-treat analysis.

Results: Satisfactory recruitment (43.8%) and retention (94.5%) rates demonstrated feasibility. Although each arm demonstrated within-group reductions in FCR severity over time, only ACT produced significant reductions at each time point compared with baseline, with between-group differences at T4 substantially favoring ACT over SE (Cohen d for effect sizes, 0.80; P < .001) and EUC (Cohen d, 0.61; P < .01). For 10 of 12 secondary outcomes, only ACT produced significant within-group reductions across all time points. By T4, significant moderate to large between-group comparisons favored ACT over SE and EUC with regard to avoidant coping, anxiety, depression, QOL, and FCR-related psychological distress.

Conclusions: Group-based ACT is a feasible and promising treatment for FCR and associated outcomes in BCS that warrants testing in larger, fully powered trials.

Keywords: acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT); anxiety; breast neoplasms; fear; quality of life; survivorship.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Anxiety / drug therapy
  • Anxiety / epidemiology
  • Anxiety / pathology
  • Breast / pathology
  • Breast Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Breast Neoplasms / epidemiology
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology
  • Breast Neoplasms / psychology*
  • Cancer Survivors*
  • Depression / drug therapy
  • Depression / epidemiology
  • Depression / pathology
  • Fear / psychology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Involuntary Commitment
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / drug therapy
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / pathology
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / prevention & control
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / psychology*
  • Neoplasm Staging
  • Phobic Disorders / drug therapy
  • Phobic Disorders / epidemiology
  • Phobic Disorders / pathology
  • Quality of Life
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / complications
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / epidemiology
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / pathology
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / psychology

Supplementary concepts

  • Phobia, Specific