Psychosocial stress in cancer survivors may contribute to compromised quality of life and negative cancer outcomes, which can be exacerbated by poor coping skills and emotional reactivity. Mindfulness based interventions (MBIs) have shown effectiveness in reducing stress, improving quality of life and coping skills in cancer survivors. We tested whether an MBI would also improve reactivity to an acute laboratory stress task. A total of 77 women with a cancer diagnosis were recruited for a waitlist-controlled trial of Mindfulness-Based Cancer Recovery (MBCR). Participants completed a laboratory-based psychosocial stress paradigm (the Trier Social Stress Test—TSST) pre- and post-intervention, throughout which cortisol and cardiovascular profiles were measured. Neither cortisol nor cardiovascular reactivity to the TSST was changed pre-to post intervention, either between or within groups. Blunted cortisol, but not cardiovascular, reactivity was observed across both groups, which may have contributed to the lack of intervention effect. Previous research suggests that diurnal cortisol is blunted following cancer treatment; the current findings suggest this blunting may also occur during exposure to acute stress.

癌症幸存者的社会心理压力可能会导致生活质量下降和癌症阴性，这可能因不良的应对技巧和情绪反应而加剧。基于正念的干预措施（MBI）在减轻癌症幸存者的压力，改善生活质量和应对技能方面显示出了有效性。我们测试了MBI是否还会提高对急性实验室压力任务的反应性。总共招募了77名诊断为癌症的女性参加基于正念的癌症康复（MBCR）的候补对照试验。参与者在干预前后均完成了基于实验室的心理社会压力范例（特里尔社会压力测试-TSST），并测量了整个过程中的皮质醇和心血管状况。两组之间或组内干预前后，皮质醇对TSST的反应性和心血管反应均未改变。两组均观察到钝性皮质醇反应性，但未观察到心血管反应性，这可能是缺乏干预作用的原因。先前的研究表明，每日的皮质醇在癌症治疗后变钝。目前的发现表明这种钝化也可能发生在暴露于急性应激的过程中。