Key clinical point: The Internet–based-targeted psychological interventions fail to reduce fear of recurrence among early breast cancer survivors.
Major finding: The Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory (FCRI) scores significantly decreased at 8 weeks from baseline in all groups ( P less than .001). The magnitude of reduction in FCRI scores was similar in cognitive-behavioral interventions and attention controls.
Study details: The randomized controlled FoRtitude study of breast cancer survivors who completed primary treatment. The survivors were randomly assigned to 4 Internet-based interventions or controls. The 4 interventions given for 4 weeks consisted of 3 cognitive behavioral interventions (relaxation, cognitive restructuring, and worry practice vs. attention controls) and telecoaching (motivational interviewing to improve adherence vs. no telecoaching).
Disclosures: This work was supported by the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health and the ECOG-ACRIN Medical Research Foundation. The authors did not disclose any conflict of interest.
Source: Wagner LI. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2021 May 31. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djab100 .