Effects of Chronotype-tailored Bright Light Intervention on Symptoms and Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Survivors.

PURPOSE

Bright light therapy holds promise for reducing common symptoms, e.g., fatigue, experienced by individuals with cancer. This study aimed to examine the effects of a chronotype-tailored bright light intervention on sleep disturbance, fatigue, depressive mood, cognitive dysfunction, and quality of life among post-treatment breast cancer survivors.

METHODS

In this two-group randomized controlled trial (NCT03304587), participants were randomized to receive 30-min daily bright blue-green light (12,000 lux) or dim red light (5 lux) either between 19:00-20:00 h or within 30 min of waking in the morning. Self-reported outcomes and in-lab overnight polysomnography sleep study were assessed before (pre-test) and after the 14-day light intervention (post-test).

RESULTS

The sample included 30 women 1-3 years post-completion of chemotherapy and/or radiation for stage I to III breast cancer (mean age = 52.5 ± 8.4 years). There were no significant between-group differences in any of the symptoms or quality of life (all p > 0.05). However, within each group, self-reported sleep disturbance, fatigue, and depressive mood, and quality of life-related functioning showed significant improvements over time (all p < 0.01); the extent of improvement for fatigue and depressive mood was clinically relevant. Polysomnography sleep findings showed that number of awakenings significantly decreased (p = 0.011) among participants received bright light, while stage 2 sleep significantly increased (p = 0.015) among participants received dim-red light.

CONCLUSION

The findings provide some evidence to support using chronotype-tailored light therapy to manage sleep disturbance, fatigue, depressive mood in post-treatment breast cancer survivors. The unexpected symptom improvements among dim-red light controls remain unexplained and requires further investigation.

CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER

NCT03304587 Study was registered on October 19, 2017.