Study of a Support Program for Quality of Life in Chinese Cancer Patients and Survivors

A Multicomponent Support Program to Enhance Quality of Life in Chinese Cancer Patients and Survivors (MSP-CCS): Pilot Optimization Trial and Implementation Outcomes

The purpose of this study is to evaluate different combinations of cancer education sessions, counseling sessions, and peer support meetings developed for Chinese cancer patients and survivors. The researchers will look at whether the combinations are practical and effective, and how they impact participants' quality of life.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Cancer; Survivorship
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Cancer Education; Other: Meaning-Centered Counseling; Other: Peer Support; Other: Enhanced Standard Care

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 64
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Jennifer Leng, MD, MPH; Phone Number: 646-888-8057
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Florence Lui, PhD; Phone Number: 646-888-8375; Email: luif@mskcc.org

Study Locations

• United States
  • New Jersey
    • Basking Ridge, New Jersey, United States, 07920
      • Recruiting
      • Memorial Sloan Kettering Basking Ridge (All Protocol Activities)
      • Contact: Florence Lui, PhD; Phone Number: 646-888-8375
    • Middletown, New Jersey, United States, 07748
      • Recruiting
      • Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth (All Protocol Activities)
      • Contact: Florence Lui, PhD; Phone Number: 646-888-8375
    • Montvale, New Jersey, United States, 07645
      • Recruiting
      • Memorial Sloan Kettering Bergen (All Protocol Activities)
      • Contact: Florence Lui, PhD; Phone Number: 646-888-8375
  • New York
    • Commack, New York, United States, 11725
      • Recruiting
      • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Suffolk- Commack (All Protocol Activities)
      • Contact: Florence Lui, PhD; Phone Number: 646-888-8375
    • Harrison, New York, United States, 10604
      • Recruiting
      • Memorial Sloan Kettering Westchester (All Protocol Activities)
      • Contact: Florence Lui, PhD; Phone Number: 646-888-8375
    • New York, New York, United States, 10065
      • Recruiting
      • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (All Protocol Activities)
      • Contact: Jennifer Leng, MD, MPH; Phone Number: 646-888-8057
      • Principal Investigator: Florence Lui, PhD
      • Contact: Florence Lui, PhD; Phone Number: 646-888-8375
    • Uniondale, New York, United States, 11553
      • Recruiting
      • Memorial Sloan Kettering Nassau (All protocol activities)
      • Contact: Florence Lui, PhD; Phone Number: 646-888-8375

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosed with cancer (any type/stage) (per EMR for MSK patients or self-report for external participants) within the last 5 years
• Age ≥ 18 years (per EMR for MSK patients or self-report for external participants)

Self-Report Criteria:

• Of Chinese descent
• Speaks Mandarin "well" or "very well"
• Moderately low HRQOL (<70 FACT-G score)4, 48
• Resides in New York or New Jersey
• Agrees to participate via telehealth (video or phone)
• Agrees to be audio-recorded

Exclusion Criteria:

Self-Report Criteria:

• Per PI determination, requires a higher level of care for current passive or active suicidal ideation than current protocol is able to provide. If a participant receives a score of > 0 on item 9 of the PHQ-9,5 they will be referred to study PI for further evaluation using the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale. They will be excluded from participation in this study if there is presence of suicidal risk, determined by affirmative response(s) on the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS)
• Too ill to participate determined by the question: "Do you feel too ill to participate because of communication problems, uncontrollable pain, or other symptoms that prevent you from participating?"
• Cognitive impairment (Montreal Cognitive Assessment 5 Minute - telephone version with a score < 12)
• Per consenting professional determination, unable to understand the informed consent procedure
• Participation in study #14-076: Adaptation of Individual Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy for Chinese immigrant cancer patients)
• Currently receiving/have received psychotherapy/counseling/peer support within the last 6 months (patients being treated solely with psychotropic medications will not be excluded if they are not receiving psychotherapy/counseling/peer support)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

8

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 1 - Cancer Education + Meaning-Centered Counseling + Peer Support + Enhanced Standard Care; All participants will also receive cancer information materials and resources. Cancer education sessions, will have 3 weekly sessions.Counseling sessions, will have 3 weekly sessions. Peer support meetings, will have 3 monthly meetings.	Other: Cancer Education; Cancer Education on side effects and their management, treatment options, advance care planning, and survivorship. Each session will last about 30-60 minutes and will be completed over the phone or by video call.; Other: Meaning-Centered Counseling; Meaning-centered counseling aims to activate culturally relevant meaning-focused coping strategies in Chinese-speaking patients and survivors (CCS). Each session will last about 45-60 minutes and will be completed over the phone or by video call.; Other: Peer Support; Peer support aims to increase social support for CCS to decrease cancer stigma, which has been associated with greater psychological distress, especially among less acculturated Chinese immigrant CCS. The meetings will include up to 6-8 Mandarin-speaking patients and survivors and will last about 90 minutes.; Other: Enhanced Standard Care; enhanced standard care ( written cancer information materials in Chinese and referral to counseling)
Experimental: 2 - Cancer Education + Meaning-Centered Counseling + Enhanced Standard Care; All participants will also receive cancer information materials and resources. Cancer education sessions, will have 3 weekly sessions.Counseling sessions, will have 3 weekly sessions.	Other: Cancer Education; Cancer Education on side effects and their management, treatment options, advance care planning, and survivorship. Each session will last about 30-60 minutes and will be completed over the phone or by video call.; Other: Meaning-Centered Counseling; Meaning-centered counseling aims to activate culturally relevant meaning-focused coping strategies in Chinese-speaking patients and survivors (CCS). Each session will last about 45-60 minutes and will be completed over the phone or by video call.; Other: Enhanced Standard Care; enhanced standard care ( written cancer information materials in Chinese and referral to counseling)
Experimental: 3 - Cancer Education + Peer Support + Enhanced Standard Care; All participants will also receive cancer information materials and resources. Cancer education sessions, will have 3 weekly sessions. Peer support meetings, will have 3 monthly meetings.	Other: Cancer Education; Cancer Education on side effects and their management, treatment options, advance care planning, and survivorship. Each session will last about 30-60 minutes and will be completed over the phone or by video call.; Other: Peer Support; Peer support aims to increase social support for CCS to decrease cancer stigma, which has been associated with greater psychological distress, especially among less acculturated Chinese immigrant CCS. The meetings will include up to 6-8 Mandarin-speaking patients and survivors and will last about 90 minutes.; Other: Enhanced Standard Care; enhanced standard care ( written cancer information materials in Chinese and referral to counseling)
Experimental: 4 - Cancer Education + Enhanced Standard Care; All participants will also receive cancer information materials and resources. Cancer education sessions, will have 3 weekly sessions.	Other: Cancer Education; Cancer Education on side effects and their management, treatment options, advance care planning, and survivorship. Each session will last about 30-60 minutes and will be completed over the phone or by video call.; Other: Enhanced Standard Care; enhanced standard care ( written cancer information materials in Chinese and referral to counseling)
Experimental: 5 - Meaning-Centered Counseling + Peer Support + Enhanced Standard Care; All participants will also receive cancer information materials and resources.Counseling sessions, will have 3 weekly sessions. Peer support meetings, will have 3 monthly meetings	Other: Meaning-Centered Counseling; Meaning-centered counseling aims to activate culturally relevant meaning-focused coping strategies in Chinese-speaking patients and survivors (CCS). Each session will last about 45-60 minutes and will be completed over the phone or by video call.; Other: Peer Support; Peer support aims to increase social support for CCS to decrease cancer stigma, which has been associated with greater psychological distress, especially among less acculturated Chinese immigrant CCS. The meetings will include up to 6-8 Mandarin-speaking patients and survivors and will last about 90 minutes.; Other: Enhanced Standard Care; enhanced standard care ( written cancer information materials in Chinese and referral to counseling)
Experimental: 6 - Meaning-Centered Counseling- + Enhanced Standard Care; All participants will also receive cancer information materials and resources. Counseling sessions, will have 3 weekly sessions.	Other: Meaning-Centered Counseling; Meaning-centered counseling aims to activate culturally relevant meaning-focused coping strategies in Chinese-speaking patients and survivors (CCS). Each session will last about 45-60 minutes and will be completed over the phone or by video call.; Other: Enhanced Standard Care; enhanced standard care ( written cancer information materials in Chinese and referral to counseling)
Experimental: 7 - Peer Support + Enhanced Standard Care; All participants will also receive cancer information materials and resources. Peer support meetings, will have 3 monthly meetings	Other: Peer Support; Peer support aims to increase social support for CCS to decrease cancer stigma, which has been associated with greater psychological distress, especially among less acculturated Chinese immigrant CCS. The meetings will include up to 6-8 Mandarin-speaking patients and survivors and will last about 90 minutes.; Other: Enhanced Standard Care; enhanced standard care ( written cancer information materials in Chinese and referral to counseling)
Active Comparator: 8 - Enhanced Standard Care; All participants will also receive cancer information materials and resources.	Other: Enhanced Standard Care; enhanced standard care ( written cancer information materials in Chinese and referral to counseling)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Proportion of eligible participants who enroll in the trial.		2 years
Proportion of participants who complete treatment	Pproportion of assessments that are completed, with completion defined as submitting the 24-week assessment with a minimum of the FACT-G completed.	24 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Collaborators: American Cancer Society, Inc.; Herald Cancer Association; Brooklyn College Cancer Center
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Florence Lui, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 27, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): February 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): February 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 2, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 2, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): March 6, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 1, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 29, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Quality of Life; Chinese; Patients; Survivors; 26-025
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms
• Other Study ID Numbers: 26-025

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center supports the international committee of medical journal editors (ICMJE) and the ethical obligation of responsible sharing of data from clinical trials. The protocol summary, a statistical summary, and informed consent form will be made available on clinicaltrials.gov when required as a condition of Federal awards, other agreements supporting the research and/or as otherwise required. Requests for deidentified individual participant data can be made beginning 12 months after publication and for up to 36 months post publication. Deidentified individual participant data reported in the manuscript will be shared under the terms of a Data Use Agreement and may only be used for approved proposals. Requests may be made to: crdatashare@mskcc.org.

Drug and device information, study documents

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