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A New Psychotherapy Intervention for Older Cancer Patients

NCT04452825 · Status: RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 459

Last updated 2026-04-17

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

This study is being done to see if a new psychotherapy intervention called Cancer and Aging: Reflections for Elders (CARE) can effectively treat depression and distress in older cancer patients. CARE is a 5-session intervention that takes place over the phone. This study will compare CARE with the Social Work and Supportive Counseling (SWSC) intervention, which also takes place over the phone. SWSC is a standard psychotherapeutic intervention that has been shown to be a supportive and effective form of treatment for distress for patients with cancer. The researchers will look at which intervention is more effective in treating depression and distress in participants.

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Cancer and Aging: Reflections for Elders (CARE) Intervention

For full participants (not training case participants) five sessions (45-60 minutes each) will be delivered over an 8-week period (+4 weeks). Following these sessions, four brief booster sessions (20-30 minutes each) will be delivered at a rate of approximately one per month to extend the interventions to 6 months (+3 months).

BEHAVIORAL

Social Work and Supportive Counseling (SWSC) Intervention

The SWSC will include a social work assessment and follow-up augmented with additional components of supportive psychotherapy that have been shown to be an effective form of treatment for patients with cancer. For full participants (not training case participants) five sessions (45-60 minutes each) will be delivered over an 8-week period (+4 weeks). Following these sessions, four brief booster sessions (20-30 minutes each) will be delivered at a rate of approximately one per month to extend the interventions to 6 months (+3 months). Training case participants will follow a slightly condensed schedule.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Principal Investigators

  • William Breitbart, MD · Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
70 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2021-02-01
Primary Completion
2027-05-31
Completion
2027-05-31

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Entities

Diseases
Companies

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT04452825 on ClinicalTrials.gov