A trial published September 16, 2026, in the Journal of Clinical Oncology compared two group-based programs, mindfulness-based cancer recovery and tai chi/qigong, among 587 people who had completed primary cancer treatment and reported at least moderate distress, as reported by CURE. The mindfulness program ran for nine weeks and the tai chi/qigong program for 11, and both were compared with a waitlist.
Compared with the waitlist, both programs were associated with lower fatigue and reduced pain interference. Tai chi/qigong also showed a significant improvement in sleep quality, while the mindfulness program’s sleep result was not statistically significant. Neither program significantly reduced pain severity, and the two programs did not differ significantly from each other.
The authors noted that fatigue, sleep and pain were secondary outcomes, that multiple comparisons can produce chance findings, and that participants had only mildly poor sleep to begin with. The trial let many participants choose their program, so its results are best read as supportive evidence for these practices alongside, not in place of, cancer care.