Open Pilot Trial of a Mind-Body Sexual Well-Being Intervention for Female GI Cancer Survivors

Open Pilot Trial of a Novel Mind-Body Sexual Well-Being Intervention for Female GI Cancer Survivors

The primary goal of this protocol is to conduct an open pilot to collect initial quantitative and qualitative feedback on the intervention that the investigators are developing. To do so, the investigators will deliver a newly-developed intervention to up to 2 consecutive groups of female colorectal and anal cancer survivors (n = up to 10 per group, total N = up to 20). Participants will provide feedback regarding intervention acceptability, feasibility, and perceived benefit.

To inform plans for ongoing program refinement, the investigators will elicit specific feedback about study assessment tools, recruitment procedures, and group factors. Given the early-stage, open pilot nature of this protocol, the investigators will not set strict criteria to establish feasibility and acceptability but will rather interpret each of these outcomes holistically. Qualitative feedback collected in post-intervention exit interviews will also support understanding of feasibility and acceptability.

As a secondary aim, the investigators will explore the preliminary effects of the intervention on psychosocial measures of satisfaction with sexuality and impact of functional limitations, coping abilities, acceptance of body image changes, loneliness, and anticipated stigma. As noted above, the investigators will not set specific criteria to establish preliminary efficacy, nor will they consider statistical significance as an indicator of the study's efficacy for these outcomes. Instead, the investigators will consider pre-post intervention effect sizes to consider the need for refinement of study procedures/measurement in a future larger trial.

In future, larger-scale, work, the investigators intend to conduct a larger randomized pilot trial to assess intervention acceptability, feasibility, as well as preliminary efficacy on essential outcomes related to sexual well-being.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Colorectal Cancer; Sexual Dysfunction; Anal Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Mind-Body Group Intervention

Detailed Description

This is an open pilot trial to gather initial data regarding feasibility, acceptability, and perceived impact of a 6-session mind-body group intervention that the investigators are developing to enhance sexual well-being among post-treatment female colorectal and anal cancer survivors.

The investigators will enroll up to 10 women per group into up to 2 groups (total N = up to 20). The team will run groups consecutively so that any necessary changes from the first open pilot group may be incorporated and re-examined in the second.

Participants will complete informed consent prior to initiation of study procedures. To inform ongoing intervention refinement, the investigators will ask participants to complete approximately 15-minute survey batteries via REDCap at baseline and after the 6-session program, including assessments of intervention feasibility and acceptability as well as psychosocial outcomes. Participants will also be invited to complete a brief qualitative exit interview with a member of the study team, regarding perceived benefit of the intervention as well as and strengths and weaknesses of program content and delivery format to inform ongoing intervention refinement.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 6
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02115
      • Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Female sex
• English-speaking
• Aged 18 or older
• Receive any cancer care at MGH-CC sites (Boston, Waltham, Danvers, Newton Wellesley Hospital)
• Completed initial active treatment (i.e., surgery, radiation, chemotherapy) for colorectal or anal cancer approximately 3 months or more prior to enrollment OR diagnosed longer than 3 months ago if in metastatic cancer treatment.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Active psychiatric or cognitive comorbidity that prohibits the capacity to provide informed consent as determined by the study PI, a licensed psychologist, in collaboration with the patient's medical team
• Adults unable to complete study procedures in English.
• Participated in an earlier phase of the research study

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: Mind-Body Sexual Well-Being Group Intervention; Participants in the mind-body sexual well-being group intervention arm will participate in 6 weekly group sessions, delivered via videoconferencing, following enrollment. Group sessions will include content related to mind-body medicine (e.g., relaxation, mindfulness, self-compassion) applied to sexual well-being as well as educational information related to women's sexual well-being in cancer survivorship. Before and after completing the group program, participants will also complete brief self-assessment questionnaires to measure topics including satisfaction with sexuality, coping, loneliness, concern about body image, and stigma.

Behavioral: Mind-Body Group Intervention; Weekly virtual group meetings with the study interventionist(s) and up to 9 other female cancer survivors over an approximately 6 week period. The group program includes topics related to coping with physical health changes, managing social factors relevant to sexual well-being, and managing thoughts and feelings related to sexual well-being changes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Feasibility of Intervention	The primary feasibility metric will be program engagement, quantified as participant rates of intervention attendance (% attending at least 4 of 6 sessions). Given the preliminary, open pilot nature of this protocol, the investigators will not set a priori criteria to establish feasibility but will rather use these data to inform ongoing protocol refinement.	Approximately 6 weeks after the final 6-week (up to N=2 groups) group program begins
Acceptability of Intervention	The primary intervention acceptability metric will be participant ratings of overall comfort with the group program (% rating comfort with the group sessions =>4 on a single 1-5 Likert scale). Given the preliminary, open pilot nature of this protocol, the investigators will not set a priori criteria to establish acceptability but will rather use these data to inform ongoing protocol refinement.	Approximately 6 weeks following group program start

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Massachusetts General Hospital
• Collaborators: Harvard Medical School (HMS and HSDM)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Lucy Finkelstein-Fox, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 10, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 11, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): January 6, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 11, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 18, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): March 26, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 24, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 10, 2025
• Last Verified: November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: colorectal cancer; women's health; anal cancer; sexual well-being
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Urogenital Diseases; Genital Diseases; Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Intestinal Diseases; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms; Digestive System Neoplasms; Digestive System Diseases; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Intestinal Neoplasms; Rectal Diseases; Colonic Diseases; Anus Diseases; Rectal Neoplasms; Colorectal Neoplasms; Anus Neoplasms; Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological
• Other Study ID Numbers: 24-009

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: The Dana-Farber / Harvard Cancer Center encourages and supports the responsible and ethical sharing of data from clinical trials. De-identified participant data from the final research dataset used in the published manuscript may only be shared under the terms of a Data Use Agreement. Requests may be directed to: lfinkelsteinfox@mgh.harvard.edu. The protocol and statistical analysis plan will be made available on Clinicaltrials.gov only as required by federal regulation or as a condition of awards and agreements supporting the research.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Data can be shared no earlier than 1 year following the date of publication
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Contact the Partners Innovations team
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; ICF

Drug and device information, study documents

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