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Tai Chi Effects on Chronic Insomnia in Breast Cancer Survivors: Immune Mechanisms
Sponsor: Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
Summary
Breast Cancer is the most common cancer in women. After completion of successful therapy, may behavioral symptoms persist with over 20% of breast cancer survivors reporting chronic insomnia of greater than 6 months duration that fulfils clinical diagnostic criteria with associated functional limitations, decreased quality of life, and possible effects on long-term survival. Behavioral interventions are highly efficacious in the treatment of insomnia and preferred over hypnotic medication when insomnia is chronic. However, insomnia studies conducted in cancer are scarce. The proposed research builds upon program of study that has examined the efficacy of mind-body intervention, Tai Chi Chih (TCC), on health outcomes including sleep impairments. Preliminary studies show that TTC, a slow moving meditation, contributes to improvement in subjective sleep quality, sleep amounts and sleep efficiency. The investigators have further found that sleep, fatigue and proinflammatory cytokine activity are reciprocally related and that TCC decreases the mechanism through TCC carries its effects on sleep outcomes.
Official title: Tai Chi Effects on Chronic Insomnia in Breast Cancer Survivors: Immune Mechanism
Key Details
Gender
FEMALE
Age Range
30 Years - 70 Years
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
90
Start Date
2008-03
Completion Date
2027-07-31
Last Updated
2025-11-10
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
Tai Chi Chih
Tai Chi Chih (TCC) employs "meditation through movement" as a means of helping breast cancer survivors cope with fatigue, perceived physical limitations, and negative emotional states which are commonly associated with insomnia. In groups of 7-8, subjects will learn to perform 20 movements under the guidance of expert TCC teacher (K. Hollister, certified instructor) who will oversee treatment sessions throughout the 12 week treatment, consistent with our preliminary studies (9). Sessions will be taught over 120 minutes with 90 minutes of active TCC, 20 minutes of warm-up (e.g., stretching, breathing),10 minutes of cool down. Sessions will be mainly given in the late afternoon at 16:00 h. Thus, the TCC will be given once a week per week for a total of 120 minutes, similar in total time allocation with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The final week of treatment will include the development of a TCC adherence plan to ensure continuity of practice and skill maintenance during follow-up.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for insomnia will be supervised by a Ph.D. level psychologist, with specialty training in behavior therapy and behavioral medicine. The CBT sessions will be held once a week for 120 minutes (each session) over the 12-week treatment period, identical to the time schedule which was to be used for health education. Treatment will be given in small groups of 7-8 subjects. The content of the intervention will be organized around a series of modules that will be presented to patients in manualized form. For each session, the CBT treatment manual will outline objectives, patient skills, and treatment activities. Therapists will direct role-playing and other skill-development exercises that will be designed to increase patients' self-efficacy in managing their insomnia. Homework assignments will be planned weekly to ensure practice and skill application.
Locations (1)
UCLA Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology
Los Angeles, California, United States