Perioperative Individually Tailored Psychological Intervention in Breast Cancer Surgery

March 29, 2026 updated by: Rabin Medical Center

Perioperative Individually Tailored Psychological Intervention in Breast Cancer Patients Improves Psychological Indices and Molecular Biomarkers of Metastasis in Excised Tumors

This randomized controlled trial examined whether a perioperative individually tailored psychological intervention can reduce psychological distress and modulate pro-metastatic molecular processes in breast cancer patients undergoing surgery. Forty women with stage I-III breast cancer were randomized to receive either a 6-week individualized psychological intervention or standard nursing care. Primary outcomes included tumor gene expression profiles associated with adrenergic, inflammatory, and metastatic signaling pathways. Secondary outcomes included psychological distress, stress, and resilience measures assessed across multiple perioperative time points.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
40

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Israel
      • Petah Tikva, Israel, 4941492
        • Rabin Medical Center - Beilinson Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Women with stage I-III breast cancer
  • Scheduled for curative surgery
  • Age 20-80

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Metastatic disease
  • Neoadjuvant therapy
  • Other malignancy
  • Severe psychiatric conditions

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Psychological Intervention
Individually tailored perioperative psychological intervention including six sessions and bi-weekly phone calls targeting emotional, cognitive, physiological, and behavioral stress responses.
Behavioral: Individually Tailored Perioperative Psychological Intervention
A 6-week individually tailored psychological intervention delivered perioperatively, including six sessions with a trained medical psychologist and bi-weekly phone calls. The intervention targets emotional, cognitive, physiological, and behavioral stress responses, and includes psychoeducation, stress-reduction techniques, coping strategies, and enhancement of social support, based on individual patient needs assessed before surgery.
Active Comparator: Standard Care
Standard nursing staff attention without structured psychological intervention.
Other: Standard Nursing Care
Standard nursing staff attention (treatment-as-usual) without structured psychological intervention.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Tumor gene expression signatures
Time Frame: At surgery (tumor resection)
Transcriptional activity of pro-metastatic, inflammatory, and adrenergic signaling pathways in excised tumors assessed via RNA sequencing.
At surgery (tumor resection)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Psychological distress (BSI-18)
Time Frame: Baseline (2-3 weeks before surgery), 3-4 weeks after surgery, and 3 months after surgery
Psychological distress assessed using the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18), including Global Severity Index (GSI) and subscales for depression, anxiety, and somatization.
Baseline (2-3 weeks before surgery), 3-4 weeks after surgery, and 3 months after surgery
Self-reported stress level
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 day before surgery, 1 day after surgery, 3-4 weeks after surgery, and 3 months after surgery
Self-reported stress level assessed using a 1-100 scale reflecting perceived stress during the previous 24 hours.
Baseline, 1 day before surgery, 1 day after surgery, 3-4 weeks after surgery, and 3 months after surgery
Hope (Hope-18)
Time Frame: Baseline and 3-4 weeks after surgery
Hope assessed using the Hope-18 questionnaire, including intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal domains.
Baseline and 3-4 weeks after surgery
Perceived social support (MSPSS)
Time Frame: Baseline and 3-4 weeks after surgery
Perceived social support assessed using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), including family, friends, and significant others subscales.
Baseline and 3-4 weeks after surgery
Fatigue (SF-36 subscale)
Time Frame: Baseline and 3-4 weeks after surgery
Fatigue assessed using the fatigue subscale of the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36).
Baseline and 3-4 weeks after surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Rabin Medical Center

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
SPARK Israel
ICRF, United States
IMH, Israel
IMS, Israel
ISF, Israel
Tel Aviv University, Israel

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 1, 2018

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 31, 2021

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 31, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
March 29, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 29, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 6, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
April 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 29, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • RMC-17-0127
  • MOH_2017-08-10_000705 (Registry Identifier: Israeli Ministry of Health)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

IPD will not be publicly shared due to the sensitive nature of clinical, psychological, and genomic data collected in this study, which may pose a risk of participant re-identification. Data may be made available upon reasonable request to the investigators, subject to institutional approvals and applicable data protection regulations.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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