A Review of the Literature on Mindfulness-Based Treatments for Patients with Cancer

Over the course of the past two decades mindfulness-based approaches have gained popularity in the world of clinical psychology. A particularly popular mindfulness-based approach referred to as mindfulness-based stress reduction has been utilized as a treatment for a broad range of issues including both mental and physical health problems. One area that has demonstrated the utility of mindfulness-based stress reduction is in the treatment of cancer patients. A significant amount of mental and physical stress is associated with receiving a diagnosis of cancer. It is due in part to this stress and the chronic nature of the disease that mindfulness-based stress reduction has generated a great deal of interest in cancer treatment. The current literature review serves to provide some background on mindfulness, discuss how it has been used therapeutically, and review the literature on the use of mindfulness-based stress reduction in the treatment of cancer patients.