Clinical trial · Observational
Art Therapy for Pain Relief in Breast Cancer Patients
Can Art Therapy Improve Breast Cancer Patients' Perception of Persistent Post Treatment Pain and Functioning? A Mixed Methods Pilot Study
- 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)
Art therapy offers benefits and support for a range of psychological symptoms caused by cancer and its treatments, for example anxiety, stress, depression, sleeplessness, identity or end of life concerns. Persistent post treatment pain that adversely affects quality of life may be experienced by up to 50% of breast cancer patients. Factors such as depression, fear, anxiety or lack of sleep are shown to increase pain and suffering in people with cancer. A multitreatment approach treatment of cancer pain is therefore recommended. Art therapy offers an opportunity to communicate the experience of suffering in a non verbal mode and can be offered in addition to other treatment for pain. This pilot study proposes to explore the effect of art therapy on breast cancer patients' perception of pain, and its impact on daily functioning by offering four sessions of individual art therapy, spaced between one to three weeks apart.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pain | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art Therapy Group | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (1)
- label
- Breast Cancer Patients
- description
- This pilot study proposes to explore the effect of art therapy on breast cancer patients' perception of pain, and its impact on daily functioning by offering four sessions of individual art therapy, spaced between one to three weeks apart. The study will be open to breast cancer patients over the age of 18, who have been assessed by the Royal Marsden (RM) Pain Team, and who report having persistent post treatment pain of at least moderate intensity for the preceding two weeks despite having been optimally treated for their pain already, and who fulfil the inclusion criteria.
- interventionNames
- Other: Art Therapy Group
Primary outcomes (1)
- measure
- Percentage of patient showing change in Brief Pain Inventory pain interference score
- timeFrame
- From baseline to end of the study (approx six months)
- description
- The percentage of patients who will demonstrate a 2 point change in Brief Pain Inventory pain interference score from baseline to end of study.
Secondary outcomes (1)
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- Female
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
- Maximum age
- 85 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * reporting pain of longer than three months duration post chemotherapy, surgical or radiation treatment * aged 18 years or older * with more than two months predicted life expectancy * who has English fluency * who has capacity to consent * wishing to access art therapy * who is assessed by the pain team as stable on their current medication Exclusion Criteria: * who is less than three months post their chemotherapy or radiation treatment, or who receives new chemotherapy or radiation treatment during the study. * who has had pain reduction surgery less than three months before the study, or receives it during the study period * who has had any change in medication for pain control less than two weeks prior to the study, or during the study period * who scores less than moderate pain (less than 4 on a scale of 1 -10) in a verbal self-reported measure of their worst pain felt, for the preceding two weeks before the study period * who intends to access art therapy outside the sessions offered within the study, for the duration of the study * who receives other psychological therapies from another practitioner during the study period * who receives physiotherapy for problems related to their breast cancer treatment during the study period * who receives massage or reflexology treatments from the complementary therapy team during the study period
References
Publications (0)
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