Clinical trial · Interventional
Cognitive Trance, Hypnosis and Meditation in Oncology
Hypnosis, Meditation and Cognitive Trance on Cancer Patients: Impact on Quality of Life and Neurophysiology
- 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)
Patients with cancer often suffer from a symptom cluster, including pain, fatigue, sleep difficulties, emotional distress and cognitive impairments. In oncology settings, there is a growing interest in "mind-body" intervention, to relieve them in a non-pharmacological way. Hypnosis and meditation are two modified state of consciousness shown to positively this symptom cluster. Cognitive trance is also a modified state of consciousness, but is induced by body movements and/or vocalizations. Subjective reports of experts in cognitive trance showed a modification of self, emotion regulation, pain perception, attention and concentration. However, we still need to develop studies to better characterise this particular state of consciousness and its clinical applications. Our randomized-controlled trial aims at comparing both interventions in terms of (1) benefits on cancer patients' quality of life (pain, fatigue, sleep, distress, cognitive impairments), (2) phenomenological/subjective experiences and neurophysiological correlates, and (3) mechanisms involved in patients' responsiveness, based on the biopsychosocial model of hypnosis.
Conditions
Conditions (6)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer | Malignant Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Cognitive Impairment | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Distress, Emotional | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Fatigue | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Pain | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Sleep Disturbance | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (3)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cognitive trance group intervention | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Hypnosis group intervention | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Meditation group intervention | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (4)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Hypnosis
- description
- In the hypnosis-based intervention, patients (in groups of approximately 10 participants) will participate in 8 weekly sessions (2 hours each) during which they will benefit from guided hypnosis exercises, and learn how to implement self-hypnosis. They will also receive a CD with hypnosis exercises for home practice. At-home practice is encouraged between sessions.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Hypnosis group intervention
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Cognitive trance
- description
- The cognitive trance-based intervention will consist of a two-day workshop in groups of approximately 10 participants, where they will learn how to induce the cognitive trance, with the use of different sound-loops that can induce trance in untrained people in a safe way. After two weeks of home practice, participants will redo a two-day consolidation training. At-home practice is encouraged between sessions.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Cognitive trance group intervention
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * ≥18 years old * No neurological/psychiatric disorders/history of alcohol or drug abuse * No current and regular practice of hypnosis, meditation or cognitive trance * Diagnosis of cancer (all localisations accepted except brain tumours to avoid any effect on EEG data and cognitive impairments) * Active treatments (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy) finished for less than a year. * Score of at least 4/10 for one of these four symptoms at baseline: pain, fatigue, sleep difficulties, emotional distress. Exclusion Criteria: * \< 18 year old * No cancer diagnosis * Neurological or psychiatric disorder * Brain tumour ou other tumour with brain metastases * Active treatments still ongoing or finished for more than a year * No baseline symptom at 4/10
References
Publications (2)
- DERIVEDBaussard L, Ernst M, Diep A, Jerusalem G, Vanhaudenhuyse A, Marie N, Bragard I, Faymonville ME, Gosseries O, Gregoire C. Network Analyses Applied to the Dimensions of Cancer-Related Fatigue in Women With Breast Cancer. Cancer Med. 2024 Oct;13(19):e70268. doi: 10.1002/cam4.70268. PMID 39387227
- DERIVEDGregoire C, Marie N, Sombrun C, Faymonville ME, Kotsou I, van Nitsen V, de Ribaucourt S, Jerusalem G, Laureys S, Vanhaudenhuyse A, Gosseries O. Hypnosis, Meditation, and Self-Induced Cognitive Trance to Improve Post-treatment Oncological Patients' Quality of Life: Study Protocol. Front Psychol. 2022 Feb 10;13:807741. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.807741. eCollection 2022. PMID 35222195