MBSR During AI Therapy for Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer Clinical Trial

Official title:

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction To Improve Cognitive Function for Postmenopausal Women With Breast Cancer

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03253627
• Other study ID #: s17-00995
• Secondary ID: 4R00NR015473-03
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: April 23, 2018
• Est. completion date: September 8, 2020

Study information

• Verified date: April 2022
• Source: New York University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical 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. 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.

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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 23
• Est. completion date: September 8, 2020
• Est. primary completion date: December 10, 2019
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Female
• Age group: 18 Years to 79 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Female

2. <80 years of age by date of baseline assessment visit

3. Able to speak and read English

4. Post-menopausal (defined as [A] amenorrhea persisting for an entire year, [B] oophorectomy or ovarian suppression/ablation, or [C] hysterectomy and age >51 years)

5. Diagnosed with DCIS (stage 0) or stage I, II, or III breast cancer

6. Post lumpectomy or mastectomy and any re-excisions

7. Post neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy, if prescribed

8. Taking aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy OR AI therapy scheduled to begin before planned post-intervention assessment visit

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Stage IV (metastatic) breast cancer

2. Diagnosis of a major psychiatric disorder (e.g., bipolar I disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder)

3. Suicide attempt within the last 10 years

4. Hospitalization or residential treatment for psychiatric illness, eating disorder, or substance abuse within the last 2 years

5. History of neurological disease (e.g., Parkinson's disease, dementia)

6. History of head trauma

7. Claustrophobia

8. Unable to lie on the back

9. Ever been told not to get an MRI

10. 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).

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Breast Cancer
• Breast Neoplasms
• Cognitive Symptom
• Neurobehavioral Manifestations

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Health Enhancement Program
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 Reduction
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.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	New York University	New York	New York

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
New York University	National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	List Sorting Working Memory Test	from National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox; Age 7+ v2.1; measures working memory; T-score range 23-77; 50 indicates the population mean with a standard deviation of 10; higher scores indicate better working memory performance; scores below 40 suggest cognitive impairment	baseline, 6 months
Other	Flanker Inhibitory Control and Attention Test	from National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox; Age 12+ v2.1; measures attention; T-score range 23-77; 50 indicates the population mean with a standard deviation of 10; higher scores indicate better attention performance; scores below 40 suggest cognitive impairment	baseline, 6 months
Other	Cognitive Function	From the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders (Neuro-QoL) Bank; v2.0; patient-reported outcome; measures executive function and general cognitive concerns; T-score range 17.3-64.2; 50 indicates the population mean with a standard deviation of 10; higher scores indicate better self-reported cognitive function; scores 41-45 suggest mild cognitive impairment, 31-40 suggest moderate cognitive impairment, and 30 or below suggest severe cognitive impairment	baseline, 3 months, 6 months
Other	Anxiety	From the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders (Neuro-QoL) Bank; v1.0; patient reported outcome; T-score range 36.4-76.8; 50 indicates the population mean with a standard deviation of 10; higher scores indicate worse self-reported anxiety; scores 55-59 suggest mild anxiety, 60-69 suggest moderate anxiety, and 70 or above suggest severe anxiety	baseline, 3 months, 6 months
Other	Depression	From the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders (Neuro-QoL) Bank; v1.0; patient-reported outcome; measures depressive symptoms; T-score range 36.9-75.0; 50 indicates the population mean with a standard deviation of 10; higher scores indicate worse depressive symptoms; scores 55-59 suggest mild depressive symptoms, 60-69 suggest moderate depressive symptoms, and 70 or above suggest severe depressive symptoms	baseline, 3 months, 6 months
Other	Gene Expression	AMIGO1 gene expression in raw gene counts for MBSR group compared to Health Enhancement Program group in a whole transcriptome analysis using ribonucleic acid sequencing (RNA-Seq); minimum 0, no maximum; value has no reference ranges; higher values indicate more gene expression	baseline, 3 months, 6 months
Primary	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	baseline, 3 months