Clinical trial · Interventional
Biobehavioral Effects of Emotional Expression in Cancer
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
The proposed study will assess the psychological and physiological benefits of an emotional expression intervention in patients with renal cancer. Patients will be randomly assigned to an emotional expression writing group or to a neutral writing group. This study will also evaluate the extent to which psychosocial factors mediate the intervention program and predict patients' recovery and adjustment to treatment. Potential mediators include level of cognitive processing, social networks/interactions, and sense of coherence and ability to find meaning in the illness experience. Specific objectives of the proposed research are: * To evaluate an emotional expression intervention in patients with renal cancer. Researchers will determine the extent to which an emotional expression writing-based intervention enhances adjustment during the first 12 months following diagnosis and treatment. Dimensions of adjustment will be assessed by examining indices of QOL, mental health, and stress (subjective symptoms of distress, perceived stress, and mood). * To determine the effects of an emotional expression writing-based intervention on immune function. The immune measures assessed in this study will include both general and autologous tumor-specific immune responses including cytotoxicity to K562 target cells; cytotoxicity to autologous tumor target cells; and functional assessment of type-1 and type-2 cytokines using autologous tumor and polyclonal stimulants. * To identify the psychosocial processes underlying the efficacy of the intervention.
Conditions
Conditions (1)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kidney Cancer | Malignant Kidney Neoplasm | CURATED_EXACT | 0.92 |
Interventions
Interventions (2)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Questionnaire | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Writing | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Emotional Expression Writing
- description
- 20 minutes of writing on different topics at four different times. Questionnaires about mood and quality of life completed 1 month, 4 months, and 10 months after the last writing assignment.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Writing
- Behavioral: Questionnaire
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Neutral Writing
- description
- 20 minutes of writing on different topics at four different times. Questionnaires about mood and quality of life completed 1 month, 4 months, and 10 months after the last writing assignment.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Writing
- Behavioral: Questionnaire
Primary outcomes (1)
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: 1\) Men or woman older than 18 years with stage I-IV renal cell carcinoma 2) Zubrod performance status of less than or equal to 2 3) have no serious intercurrent medical illness 4) read and speak English Exclusion Criteria: 1\) Score of 23 or below on the Mini-mental 2) History of primary or secondary immunodeficiency 3) Taking immunosuppressive drugs such as systemic corticosteroid 4) Patients who are undergoing a surgical procedure and do not sign the general tissue consent form 5) Patients with major psychiatric diagnoses or currently seeking psychological counseling.
References
Publications (2)
- DERIVEDSnyder S, Milbury K, Wagner R, Cohen L. Words matter: The use of generic "you" in expressive writing in an oncology setting. J Health Psychol. 2024 Jan;29(1):42-51. doi: 10.1177/13591053231182218. Epub 2023 Jun 26. PMID 37358056
- DERIVEDMilbury K, Spelman A, Wood C, Matin SF, Tannir N, Jonasch E, Pisters L, Wei Q, Cohen L. Randomized controlled trial of expressive writing for patients with renal cell carcinoma. J Clin Oncol. 2014 Mar 1;32(7):663-70. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2013.50.3532. Epub 2014 Jan 27. PMID 24470003