Effect of complementary Integrative Oncology on anxiety, depression and quality of life in thoracic cancer patients: A pilot study

Purpose: Thoracic-cancer (TC) patients have an extensive toll taken in terms of health-related quality of life (HRQL). Integrative Oncology (IO) is recognized as a valid complement to any Standard-Therapy treatment to improve outcomes in TC patients. The objective of this pilot-study was to evaluate the effect of adding IO (acupuncture, Cognitive-Behavior Therapy and mindfulness) in terms of depression, anxiety and HRQL. Methods: TC patients who attended the Thoracic Oncology-Unit from July to September 2018 were invited to participate. A total of 16 patients were included in the study, 8 patients were required to attend 5 weekly sessions of IO and 8 patients were invited as controls. Anxiety, depression and HRQL were measured at baseline and after completing 5 sessions of IO or 5 weeks, using the HADS scale and the QLQ-C30 scale. Results: A total of 8 patients in the IO group attended the 5 sessions and 8 patients were followed as controls. Compliance with the therapies was high, none of the patients dropped out from the study. A tendency for improvement in anxiety, fatigue, pain and dyspnea was observed in patients attending IO, though not statistically significant likely due to sample size. Conclusions: IO therapies are well accepted among TC patients. Larger studies are necessary with robust sample sizes to improve conclusions regarding outcome improvements.