Mindfulness-based interventions in oncology: A scoping review of outcomes and applications

Cancer significantly impacts patients' physical and mental health, leading to a wide range of effects from physical pain to psychological issues such as anxiety and depression, severely diminishing their quality of life. As an emerging psychosomatic intervention, mindfulness interventions have gained increasing attention. This scoping review systematically searches and filters relevant literature, covering databases from their inception to January 2025, aiming to comprehensively outline the application, research characteristics, and main outcomes of mindfulness interventions in cancer recovery. We employed the Arksey and O'Malley framework, utilizing electronic databases and manual searches to rigorously select studies and extract key data. Results indicate that mindfulness interventions show broad potential in improving cancer patients' mental health, physical symptoms, and quality of life, despite the heterogeneity of the evidence. Future research should focus on higher-quality randomized controlled trials to explore different intervention modalities and long-term effects and to analyze their underlying mechanisms. This paper particularly highlights the advancements in Mindfulness-Based Cancer Recovery, providing valuable references for clinical practice.