Clinical Implications
cancer, affective symptoms, fatigue, cognitive impairment
CANCER
The analyses of this RCT not only demonstrate the effectiveness of NF at the symptom level, but also suggest a causal effect of alpha-band training as an index of relaxation ability and alleviation of affective symptoms in cancer patients. To date, this has been done only in single-case studies. This implies the need for further randomized controlled trials to generalize the results. Furthermore, studies are needed to investigate the effect of NF and mindfulness on parameters such as perceived cognitive impairment and fatigue in this cohort, as this is not the only study to show unambiguous findings. The effectiveness of NF on affective symptoms and QoL is unambiguous. The prevalence of affective symptoms and the general positive effect on the affective symptoms and QoL of psycho-oncological patients definitely underlines the use of NF as a further supportive measure in this cohort. This study suggests that NF alleviates affective symptoms in this patient group with similar results as the already established mindfulness practices. Therefore, this method should be made available to cancer patients according to patient inclinations and preferences. Considering that NF is significantly better at increasing self-efficacy in this cohort and that this increases QoL, further research on possible long-term effects is also of great interest.