A recurrence of cancer is a traumatic and stressful experience, and a number of approaches have been proposed to manage or treat the associated psychological distress. Meditative techniques such as mindfulness may be able to improve an individual’s ability to cope with stressful life events such as cancer diagnosis or treatment. This single-arm mixed-methods study primarily aimed to determine the feasibility of using a mindfulness-based intervention in managing psychosocial distress in recurrent ovarian cancer. Twenty-eight participants took part in a mindfulness-based program, involving six group sessions, each lasting 1.5 hours and delivered at weekly intervals. The study found that the mindfulness-based intervention was acceptable to women with recurrent ovarian cancer and feasible to deliver within a standard cancer care pathway in a UK hospital setting. The results suggested a positive impact on symptoms of depression and anxiety, but further study is needed to explore the effectiveness of the intervention.

Objective : To measure the change in cardiovascular risk factors achievable in families over one year by a cardiovascular screening and lifestyle intervention in general practice. Design : Randomised controlled trial in 26 general practices in 13 towns in Britain. Subjects : 12472 men aged 40-59 and their partners (7460 men and 5012 women) identified by household. Intervention : Nurse led programme using a family centred approach with follow up according to degree of risk. Main outcome measures : After one year the pairs of practices were compared for differences in (a) total coronary (Dundee) risk score and (b) cigarette smoking, weight, blood pressure, and random blood cholesterol and glucose concentrations. Results : In men the overall reduction in coronary risk score was 16% (95% confidence interval 11% to 21%) in the intervention practices at one year. This was partitioned between systolic pressure (7%), smoking (5%), and cholesterol concentration (4%). The reduction for women was similar. For both sexes reported cigarette smoking at one year was lower by about 4%, systolic pressure by 7 mm Hg, diastolic pressure by 3 mm Hg, weight by 1 kg, and cholesterol concentration by 0.1 mmol/l, but there was no shift in glucose concentration. Weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol concentration showed the greatest difference at the top of the distribution. If maintained long term the differences in risk factors achieved would mean only a 12% reduction in risk of coronary events. Conclusions : As most general practices are not using such an intensive programme the changes in coronary risk factors achieved by the voluntary health promotion package for primary care are likely to be even smaller. The government's screening policy cannot be justified by these results.