A pilot study exploring four meditation practices for anxiety among cancer survivors.

Abstract

e24132 Background: Meditation has been associated with reductions in anxiety among cancer survivors. This study aims to evaluate four meditation techniques for reducing anxiety after acute stress in cancer survivors. Methods: Cancer survivors without significant meditation experience treated with surgery alone were randomized to one of the four arms: breathing, focused attention, mindfulness, or a combination. Participants learned the assigned meditation technique over 3 weeks. At baseline (V1) and the final visit (V5), subjects underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and completed the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Short Form (STAI-SF) questionnaire, visual analog scale 0-10 (VAS) of anxiety, salivary α-amylase, and systolic blood pressure (SBP) at different time points including before TSST (T3), after TSST (T4), and after meditation post-TSST (T5). Paired t-tests assessed within group pre-post differences and across timepoints in VAS-Anxiety, amylase, and SBP scores. A mixed effects model was used for STAI scores. Results: A total of 29 subjects (accrual goal 44) completed the study (median age 64 years; 72% male). Cancer types include prostate (66%), thyroid (17%), bladder (7%), kidney (7%), and skin (3%). Our preliminary results show the combination group had a significant decrease in VAS-Anxiety after meditation post-TSST from V5 T4-T5 (-3.1, p = 0.02), while the breathing group (-2.2, p = 0.08) and mindfulness group (-2.1, p = 0.08) were nearing significance. The combination group also had significant reductions in VAS-Anxiety between V1-T4 and V5-T4 (-3.7, p = 0.01), and near significance between V1-T5 and V5-T5 (-2.4, p = 0.052). The mindfulness group showed a significant decrease in amylase post-TSST between V1-T4 and V5-T4 (-301, p = 0.04), and near significant decrease between V1-T5 and V5-T5 (-261, p = 0.059). The breathing group showed a significant decrease in SBP across timepoints between V1 and V5 (p = 0.001). Across all study arms, there was an overall decrease in STAI scores at V5 compared to V1 (p = 0.0002). The planned study completion is in Summer of 2026. Conclusions: With this brief 3-week intervention of four types of meditation, only the combination group showed significant changes in the primary aim of VAS-Anxiety after acute stress. The mindfulness and breathing groups may work through different physiological mechanisms to counter stress and thus may explain why a combination approach is most effective. Clinical trial information: NCT06500377 .