Mindfulness in Endometrial and Cervical Cancer (MECCA)

Saint Louis University (SLU)

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Endometrial Cancer; Quality of Life; Gynecologic Cancer; Opioid Use; Cervical Cancer

Treatments: Behavioral: Headspace Smartphone Application

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04512144

30780

Details and patient eligibility

About

Patients with endometrial cancer who will be undergoing surgery or patients with cervical cancer who will be treated with chemoradiation will be randomized to utilize the Headspace smartphone application or not prior to their anticipated treatment.

Full description

A diagnosis of cancer can be a major stress-inducing event. The prevalence of depression in patients diagnosed with cancer is estimated up to 16%. Practicing mindfulness is a cost-effective treatment which can also help manage treatment adverse effects and cancer-related symptoms.

Even short exposure and practice of mindfulness exercises have demonstrated improved subjective and objective measurements of stress and anxiety with breast biopsies. Patients with breast cancer also have improved quality of life with mindfulness training. Self-guided mindfulness with smartphone applications, specifically the app Headspace, has been associated with positive benefits and ease of use in the general population and among cancer patients.

A patient's inherent level of baseline mindfulness has been associated with lower pain scores following minimally invasive hysterectomy. This study did not specifically encourage practice of mindfulness exercises. Our own study of post-operative opiate usage in women following minimally invasive hysterectomy contains self-reported data of women using opiates to relax or help sleep. This suggests that mindfulness exercises may improve quality of life in these areas and thus reduce opiate usage. Patients undergoing minimally invasive hysterectomy for treatment of endometrial cancer were specifically chosen as a study cohort to build on our own data and that currently reported in the literature as well as the highest incidence of this cancer as a gynecologic malignancy. The second study cohort chosen was women with cervical cancer undergoing definitive treatment with chemo-sensitizing radiation given the significant endeavor required for complete treatment. Additionally, these women are often younger with the diagnosis of cervical cancer often being their first major medical diagnosis.

Enrollment: 120 estimated patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18 to 90 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• New diagnosis of either 1) endometrial cancer undergoing surgery or 2) cervical cancer undergoing chemo-sensitizing radiation
• Access to a smartphone

Exclusion criteria

• Non-English speaking
• No access to smartphone
• Current use of Headspace application

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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120 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention

Experimental group

Description:

Patients with endometrial cancer will be approached for participation at their pre-operative visit. Patients with cervical cancer will be approached at their pre-treatment visit. If the patient opts to participate, she will be randomized to utilize the Headspace smartphone application or not. She will be provided a three month gift subscription. Headspace will be downloaded to her smartphone and she will be instructed on use. Patients will be asked to complete a quality of life survey on the day of enrollment, the day of surgery (endometrial cancer) or first brachytherapy (cervical cancer) and at their post-treatment visit. The patient will receive one phone call prior to her post-treatment visit requesting she bring her bottle of opiate pills with her for counting. The number of pills used will be recorded. The number of Headspace sessions will be recorded. An anonymous survey will be provided for completion. The patient will be provided a gift card at completion.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Headspace Smartphone Application

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Patients with endometrial cancer will be approached for participation at their pre-operative visit. Patients with cervical cancer will be approached at their pre-treatment visit. If the patient opts to participate, she will be randomized to utilize the Headspace smartphone application or not. All patients in the control group may choose to practice calming or mindfulness exercises of their own accord but will not be specifically instructed to seek out such resources as is our standard practice. Patients will be asked to complete a quality of life survey on the day of enrollment, the day of surgery (endometrial cancer) or first brachytherapy (cervical cancer) and at their post-treatment visit. The patient will receive one phone call prior to her post-treatment visit requesting she bring her bottle of opiate pills with her for counting. The number of pills used will be recorded. An anonymous survey will be provided for completion. The patient will be provided a gift card at completion.