Clinical trial · Interventional
Evaluating Qigong as a Clinical Intervention for Cancer Survivors' Fatigue
Testing the Effects of Qigong on a Multi-System Neuro-muscular- Immune Model of Vigor in Cancer Survivorship
- 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)
This study compares Qigong movement-based meditation exercise with a healthy living exercise-wellness course. There are two primary goals of this research: 1. Evaluate and compare physiological mechanisms underlying the two wellness-exercise interventions with the specific goal of understanding the physiology of Qigong. Using a simple noninvasive EEG setup, the study will test some of the same brain mechanisms that have been found in mindfulness meditation. The study will also investigate Qigong's effects on stress and heart signals and on inflammation in the immune system. A key hypothesis is that Qigong will show distinctive, stronger effects on brain and heart measures. A related hypothesis is that Qigong will show stronger effects on blood markers of inflammation. 2. Compare effect sizes of the two interventions in decreasing fatigue in order to plan for a larger clinical trial.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fatigue | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (2)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP) | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Qigong | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Qigong intervention
- description
- Qigong meditative exercise intervention meets three times a week for 10 weeks. The qigong group (n=30) will meet at the Women's Medicine Collaborative, Miriam Hospital (146 W. River St., Providence, RI) for Qigong classes. The lesson will be taught by a validated Qi Gong master with over forty years of experience and the interventional protocol will be validated. Two and a half hours of weekly outside personal practice will also be required of participants.
- interventionNames
- Other: Qigong
- type
- ACTIVE_COMPARATOR
- label
- CHIP healthy wellness-exercise class
- description
- The Complete Health Improvement Program is a validated set of weekly classes designed to promote gentle exercise and wellness related activities in a supportive group setting led by an experienced trainer.
- interventionNames
- Other: Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP)
Primary outcomes (1)
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- Female
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
- Maximum age
- 70 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Female patients * Aged 18-70 years * Self-report of fatigue =/\> 3/10 on fatigue interference scale * Have been diagnosed and completed treatment for cancer (with surgery or radiation or chemotherapy) * no surgery, radiation or chemotherapy received in the past 8 weeks (ongoing treatment with Herceptin \[trastuzumab\] or other adjuvant therapies is permitted) * Currently cancer-free * Have a primary care or other physician * Ability to understand English * Willingness to have blood drawn, have an EEG taken and complete questionnaires * Ability to pass basic validated physical movement tests (e.g.: standing with feet touching for 30 seconds, twist right to left and back, hold arms out to side in air for 15 seconds, lift arms over head, moving from standing position to seated position on the floor) to verify safety for Qigong practice. Exclusion Criteria: * History or current diagnosis of medical or psychiatric disorder that would interfere with ability to participate in wellness classes or in scientific assessment sessions (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, major psychiatric disorder, connective tissue disorder) * Body Mass Index (BMI) \> 31 * Active alcohol or drug abuse * Tobacco use * Pregnancy * Regular daily use of anti-inflammatory drugs, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, (does not apply to common use of daily "baby aspirin" as daily prophylactic cardiovascular treatment) * Resting systolic blood pressure of less than 90 or greater than 160 and resting diastolic blood pressure of greater than 110. * Ingestion of caffeine or cocoa products less than two hours from data collection * Contraindication to regular physical activity participation * Already engaging in \>60 min of vigorous physical activity per week for the prior month * Weekly practice of yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, or meditation since the diagnosis of cancer * Peripheral neuropathy
References
Publications (2)
- BACKGROUNDKerr CE, Sacchet MD, Lazar SW, Moore CI, Jones SR. Mindfulness starts with the body: somatosensory attention and top-down modulation of cortical alpha rhythms in mindfulness meditation. Front Hum Neurosci. 2013 Feb 13;7:12. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00012. eCollection 2013. PMID 23408771
- BACKGROUNDSchmalzl L, Kerr CE. Editorial: Neural Mechanisms Underlying Movement-Based Embodied Contemplative Practices. Front Hum Neurosci. 2016 Apr 26;10:169. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00169. eCollection 2016. No abstract available. PMID 27199700