Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Improving Well-Being in Patients With Stage III-IV Cancer and Their Partners

Rutgers The State University of New Jersey

Status: Completed

Conditions: Stage IIIA Breast Cancer; Malignant Female Reproductive System Neoplasm; Stage IIIA Skin Melanoma; Stage IVA Colorectal Cancer; Stage III Prostate Cancer; Stage III Skin Melanoma; Stage IIIB Breast Cancer; Stage III Cervical Cancer; Stage IIIA Uterine Corpus Cancer; Stage IV Skin Melanoma; Stage IIIC Breast Cancer; Stage IIIB Skin Melanoma; Malignant Hepatobiliary Neoplasm; Stage IVA Cervical Cancer; Stage III Colorectal Cancer; Stage IV Cervical Cancer; Stage IIIB Cervical Cancer; Stage IIIB Colorectal Cancer; Stage IVB Uterine Corpus Cancer; Stage IVB Colorectal Cancer; Stage IIIC Skin Melanoma; Stage IVB Cervical Cancer; Partner; Stage IIIA Colorectal Cancer; Stage IIIC Colorectal Cancer; Stage III Uterine Corpus Cancer; Stage III Lung Cancer; Stage IIIB Uterine Corpus Cancer; Stage IV Uterine Corpus Cancer; Stage IV Prostate Cancer; Stage IIIA Lung Carcinoma; Stage IV Colorectal Cancer; Stage IVA Uterine Corpus Cancer; Stage III Breast Cancer; Stage IIIA Cervical Cancer; Stage IIIB Lung Carcinoma; Stage IV Lung Cancer; Stage IIIC Uterine Corpus Cancer; Stage IV Breast Cancer

Treatments: Behavioral: Cognitive Behavior Therapy; Other: Quality-of-Life Assessment; Other: Questionnaire Administration; Other: Survey Administration

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT03112668

NCI-2017-00445 (Registry Identifier)

131604 (Other Identifier)

P30CA072720 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Pro20170000115

Details and patient eligibility

About

This pilot clinical trial studies how well acceptance and commitment therapy works in improving well-being in patients with stage III-IV cancer and their partners. Learning how to accept negative thoughts and feelings and how to live in the present without worrying about the future or past may improve coping skills in patients with stage III-IV cancer and their partners.

Full description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To examine the feasibility and acceptability of couples' acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) (C-ACT).

II. To collect pilot data on the impact of C-ACT on patients' and partners' anxiety, depression, and quality of life.

OUTLINE:

Patients and their partners attend 6 weekly ACT sessions over 60-75 minutes. Couples learn skills of acceptance, avoidance, awareness, values and committed action, mindfulness and values in relationships, and handling persistent worries and concerns. Patients and their partners also do homework assignment after each session.

After completion of the study, patients and their partners are followed up at 1 week.

Enrollment: 14 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Diagnosed with stage 3 or 4 breast, cervical, colorectal, endometrial, hepatobiliary, lung, melanoma, gynecological, prostate cancer in the past six months
• Married or cohabiting with a significant other of either gender for more than one year
• At the time of recruitment, a life expectancy of greater than 6 months and/or a Karnofsky performance status of 80 or above or an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score of 0 or 1
• English speaking
• No significant hearing impairment that would prevent participation in sessions
• Live within a 1 hour commuting distance from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey

Exclusion criteria

• Partner cannot have cancer diagnosis (other than non-melanoma skin cancer) and be currently receiving treatment

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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14 participants in 1 patient group

Supportive Care (ACT)

Experimental group

Description:

Patients and their partners attend 6 weekly ACT sessions over 60-75 minutes. Couples learn skills of acceptance, avoidance, awareness, values and committed action, mindfulness and values in relationships, and handling persistent worries and concerns. Patients and their partners also do homework assignment after each session.

Treatment:

Other: Quality-of-Life Assessment

Other: Survey Administration

Behavioral: Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Other: Questionnaire Administration