Research Updates

Gabrielle’s Angels grantee Dr. Kevin Liou from MSKCC recently published findings from the clinical trial our grant helped support in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. This study tested whether music therapy delivered over telehealth can help reduce anxiety in cancer survivors as well as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which is the standard first-choice treatment for anxiety. In a randomized clinical trial with 300 cancer survivors, participants received seven weekly sessions of either music therapy or CBT. Researchers measured anxiety right after treatment and again six months later. They found that both groups had meaningful reductions in anxiety, with music therapy performing just as well as CBT at both time points. The benefits were clinically significant and lasted over time, and people in both groups also showed similar improvements in related areas like fatigue and quality of life. This suggests that music therapy could be an effective, accessible alternative to CBT for anxiety in cancer survivors, especially for those who prefer a creative, non-traditional approach or who have trouble accessing CBT. Read the full article here: https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/JCO-25-00726