Gene Expression, Meditative Movement, and Emotional Distress (GME) (GME)

Gene Expression, Meditative Movement, and Emotional Distress (GME): A Pilot Study

Study Title: Gene Expression, Meditative Movement and Emotional Distress (GME)

Background and Objectives:

Breast cancer survivors (BCS) often report decrements in cognitive functioning. Cognitive impairment (CI) is generally understood as resulting from chemotherapy or radiation, but may also result from chronic emotional distress experienced by breast cancer patients and survivors. Meditation and exercise are both known to reduce stress, with growing evidence for the potential of each to also improve cognitive functioning in cancer patients and survivors. A Meditative Movement (MM) program (Qigong/Tai Chi Easy) offers the potential of combining both benefits of meditation and exercise for breast cancer survivors. This is a pilot study, testing the MM program to effect changes in cognitive functioning and associated symptoms/conditions such as anxiety, depression, sleep quality and using gene expression factors as biomarkers to potentially measure the molecular signature of these changes. Forty BCS will be consented and assigned to an intensive eight week MM program. Cognitive functioning and associated symptoms/conditions will be assessed before and after the 8-week MM program to examine the participants' behaviors and symptoms. Peripheral blood samples will be collected before and after the 8-week MM program and will be analyzed for gene expression changes. If successful, this study may provide preliminary data for a full powered randomized control trial if results show promise in the psycho-behavioral outcomes and genomic expression results.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cognitive Impairment
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Meditative Movement

Detailed Description

This is a single-group pilot study on the effects of 8 weeks of MM practice on changes in cognitive function, anxiety, sleep quality, depression, and selected gene expression factors. Forty BCS will be consented and assigned to an intensive eight-week MM program. The forty BCS will be nonrandomly assigned to the eight-week MM program with no control group. The forty BCS will be organized in cohorts of 10 for the 8-week MM program. Cognitive functioning and associated symptoms/conditions data will be collected before and after the 8-week MM program to assess cognitive functioning, anxiety, depression, and sleep-quality. This data will be analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics program. Peripheral blood samples will be collected before and after the 8-week MM program. The gene expression data will be processed and analyzed by the bioinformatics team at the Single-Cell, Sequencing, and CyTOF Core (SC2), Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), Los Angeles.

Endpoints:

Endpoint 1: The Meditative Movement (MM) program will affect cognitive impairment.

Endpoint 2: The Meditative Movement (MM) program will affect anxiety, depression, and sleep quality.

Endpoint 3: The MM program will affect gene expression associated with cognitive impairment and associated symptoms.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 27
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Pomona, California, United States, 91767
      • Robert and Beverly Lewis Family Cancer Care Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 45 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Female patients diagnosed with breast cancer, Stage 0- III
• Between 6 months and 5 years past primary treatment
• 45 years of age and older
• Post-menopausal
• Speak or understand English

Exclusion Criteria:

• Women who are unable to stand (e.g., wheelchair or walker bound)
• Patients who are too weak or ill
• Women on antibiotics.
• Working night shift
• Anemia
• Uncontrolled diabetes

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Meditative Movement (MM); The Meditative Movement (Qigong/Tai Chi Easy) program will be 8 weeks in duration with sessions once a week. Each session is approximately one hour. The PI will lead the MM sessions. The PI and the CRC will maintain contact with the MM group during the 8 weeks by telephone or in person.	Behavioral: Meditative Movement; The Meditative Movement program is a blend of meditation and exercise based on Tai Chi and Qigong.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Perceived Cognitive Impairments (CogPCI)	Perceived Cognitive Impairments (CogPCI) is a patient self-report and validated subscale of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cognitive Function (FACT-COG), 20 items. The range of values are 0-80 with lower scores signifying better outcomes.	Measures data on cognitive functioning were collected one week before and one week after the 8-week MM program. Paired Sample t-test of SPSS were used to analyze data and report p-values within four weeks of final post-MM data collection.
Perceived Cognitive Abilities (CogPCA)	Perceived Cognitive Abilities (CogPCA) is a patient self-report and validated subscale of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cognitive Function (FACT-COG), 9 items. The range of values are 0-36 with higher scores signifying better outcomes.	Measures data on cognitive functioning were collected one week before and one week after the 8-week MM program. Paired Sample t-test of SPSS were used to analyze data and report p-values within four weeks of final post-MM data collection.
Impact on Quality of Life (CogQOL)	Impact on Quality of Life (CogQOL) is a patient self-report and validated subscale of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cognitive Function (FACT-COG), 4 items. The range of values are 0-16 with lower scores signifying better outcomes.	Measures data on associated symptoms/conditions were collected one week before and one week after the 8-week MM program. Paired Sample t-test of SPSS were used to analyze data and report p-values within four weeks of final post-MM data collection.
Comments From Others (CogOth)	Comments from Others (CogOth) is a patient self-report and validated subscale of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cognitive Function (FACT-COG), 4 items. The range of values are 0-16 with lower scores signifying better outcomes.	Measures data on cognitive functioning were collected one week before and one week after the 8-week MM program. Paired Sample t-test of SPSS were used to analyze data and report p-values within four weeks of final post-MM data collection.
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III): Letter-Number Sequencing	WAIS-III: Letter-Number Sequencing measures working memory using letters and numbers in sequence recall. The scoring range is 0 to 21 with higher scores meaning better outcomes.	Measures data on cognitive functioning were collected one week before and one week after the 8-week MM program. Paired Sample t-test of SPSS were used to analyze data and report p-values within four weeks of final post-MM data collection.
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III): Digit Span Forward and Backward	WAIS-III): Digit Span Forward and Backward measures working memory using numbers in a series recall. The scoring range is 0 to 30 with higher scores meaning better outcomes.	Measures data on cognitive functioning were collected one week before and one week after the 8-week MM program. Paired Sample t-test of SPSS were used to analyze data and report p-values within four weeks of final post-MM data collection.
Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)	The PSQI is a 19-item self-report questionnaire designed to assess sleep quality and disturbances over a I-month interval. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI): 19 items assess sleep, including subscales for subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep disturbance, habitual sleep efficiency, daytime dysfunction and use of sleep medications. A global PSQI score >5 distinguishes good from poor sleepers. Lower scores mean better outcomes.	Measures data on associated symptoms/conditions were collected one week before and one week after the 8-week MM program. Paired Sample t-test of SPSS were used to analyze data and report p-values within four weeks of final post-MM data collection.
Profile of Mood States Short Form (POMS-SF) - Anxiety	The POMs-SF consists of 37 items, adjectives scored on a 5-point Likert scale. POMS consists of the Total Mood Disturbance (TMD) dimensions (tension-anxiety; depression-dejection; anger-hostility; confusion-bewilderment. This pilot study reported results for the tension-anxiety TMD dimensions (12 items). Lower scores mean better outcomes.	Measures data on associated symptoms/conditions were collected one week before and one week after the 8-week MM program. Paired Sample t-test of SPSS were used to analyze data and report p-values within four weeks of final post-MM data collection.
Profile of Mood States Short Form (POMS-SF) - Depression	The POMs-SF consists of 37 items, adjectives scored on a 5-point Likert scale. POMS consists of the Total Mood Disturbance (TMD) dimensions (tension-anxiety; depression-dejection; anger-hostility; confusion-bewilderment. This pilot study reported results for the depression-dejection TMD dimension (12 items). Lower scores mean better outcomes.	Measures data on associated symptoms/conditions were collected one week before and one week after the 8-week MM program. Paired Sample t-test of SPSS were used to analyze data and report p-values within four weeks of final post-MM data collection.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Brain Derived Neurotropic Factor (BDNF) Gene Expression	The BDNF gene regulates synaptic plasticity associated with cognitive functioning. Increased levels of BDNF gene expression are associated with improved cognitive functioning. Blood samples were collected post-intervention for RNA Sequencing to measure RNA levels as indicators of gene expression. Higher scores mean better outcomes.	Measures data on gene expression were collected one week before and one week after the 8-week MM program. Paired Sample t-test of SPSS were used to analyze data and report p-values within four weeks of final post-MM data collection.
Nuclear Factor Kappa B (NF-kB1) Gene Expression	Decreased levels of NF-kB1 gene expression are associated with improvements in managing chronic stress. Blood samples were collected post-intervention for RNA Sequencing to measure RNA levels as indicators of gene expression. Lower scores indicate better outcomes.	Measures data on gene expression were collected one week before and one week after the 8-week MM program. Paired Sample t-test of SPSS were used to analyze data and report p-values within four weeks of final post-MM data collection.
Tumor Protein 53 (TP53) Gene Expression	Increased TP53 gene expression is associated with suppressing cancer growth. Blood samples were collected post-intervention for RNA Sequencing to measure RNA levels as indicators of gene expression. Higher scores mean better outcomes.	Measures data on gene expression were collected one week before and one week after the 8-week MM program. Paired Sample t-test of SPSS were used to analyze data and report p-values within four weeks of final post-MM data collection.

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes in anxiety, depression, and sleep quality.	Profile of Mood States Short Form (POMS-SF): 37 items, adjectives scored on a 5-point Likert scale. The POMS is one of the most frequently used and validated scales in studies of psychosocial interventions with BCSs. POMS consists of the Total Mood Disturbance (TMD) dimensions (tension-anxiety; depression-dejection; anger-hostility; confusion-bewilderment. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI): 19 items assess sleep, including subscales for subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep disturbance, habitual sleep efficiency, daytime dysfunction and use of sleep medications.	The research participants will complete these measures pre- and post-8 week intervention within two weeks prior to and subsequent to the 8-week intervention.
Changes in BDNF gene expression associated with changes in NF-kB and TP53 gene expression (associated with inflammation and tumor suppression).	RNA sequencing: Sequencing libraries will be prepared from previously purified RNA using the Illumina TruSeq Stranded mRNA Library Prep kit following the manufacturer's instructions. Sequencing will be performed on a NextSeq 500 platform using 2×75bp chemistry. Data analysis: Quality control and adapter trimming will be performed using trim galore (v0.4.2) with default parameters. Reads will be aligned to the GRCh38 reference genome and transcriptome using HISAT2 (v2.1.0), and transcript quantification will be performed using featureCounts (v1.5.1). Differential expression analysis will be performed using the 'DESeq2' R package (v1.16.1), and a rank score calculated as -log10(q-val)*sign (log2 FoldChange) will be used as input to the GSEA Preranked tool for pathway analysis.	Blood samples will be collected within two weeks before and after 8 week intervention.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Arizona State University
• Collaborators: Children's Hospital Los Angeles
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Francisco V Munoz, Ph.D., Arizona State University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 17, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 15, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): September 15, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 8, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 27, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): December 30, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 19, 2024
• Last Verified: November 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: gene expression; breast cancer survivors; emotional distress
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Neurocognitive Disorders; Cognition Disorders; Cognitive Dysfunction
• Other Study ID Numbers: GME Study (SITE00000289)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No