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NCT Number: NCT07052916

A Music Therapy Study for Blood Cancer Survivors With Cognitive Difficulties

Research has shown that music-based activities may help improve brain functions, such as attention, memory, and executive function. Because of this past research, the researchers are doing this study to find out whether telehealth music therapy is a practical treatment for cognitive difficulties in blood cancer survivors. The researchers will also study whether music therapy and music education help improve cognitive function and other common symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and/or tiredness.

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Key information

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Memorial Sloan Kettering Basking Ridge (All protocol activities), Basking Ridge, New Jersey, United States

Loading trial locations.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • English-proficient, aged 18 or older
  • Diagnosis of lymphoma, leukemia, or myeloma
  • Stable oncologic disease or no evidence of disease as indicated in the medical chart or by the oncology team
  • Score of <54 on the FACT-Cog PCI subscale
  • Minimum life expectancy of one year as per clinician assessment
  • Patient should be able to understand and complete all study assessments on their own.
  • Eligible patient should be able to understand informed consent and provide signed informed consent in English.

Exclusion criteria

  • Less than 3 months since completion of surgery, radiation, induction chemotherapy (for newly diagnosed or relapsed disease), transplantation, or immunotherapy (e.g., CAR T-Cell, bispecific antibodies)
  • If there is a defined treatment period, the patient must be at least 3 months from treatment completion
  • If the patient is on continuous therapy, patient must have completed at least 6 months of the therapy
  • Maintenance therapies are allowed
  • Received music therapy (MT) in the past year
  • Current music training, >6 months of music training in the past 10 years, or plan to initiate music training during the study
  • No access to an internet-connected device
  • Active suicidal ideation, bipolar, schizophrenia, or substance abuse
  • BOMC score ≥10 (indicative of dementia)
  • Uncorrectable visual, auditory, or motor impairments
  • Initiation or altered dose of sedative, stimulant, or anti-cholinergic medications in the past month or plan to initiate these medications during the study, as these are known to impact cognitive function
  • Initiation of any other interventions for CRCD (e.g., cognitive rehabilitation) in the past month or plan to initiate these interventions during the study, as these are known to impact cognitive function

Treatment and study plan

Music Therapy/MT

Other

Therapeutic music lessons are the core component of the Music Therapy/MT intervention. Other components include guided music listening to help participants use music as a tool for regulating mood, energy, and attention, as well as music-centered discussions to help participants discover songs with personal meaning that they will enjoy learning to play.

Therapist-Attention Music Education/TAME Control

Other

Participants will receive 12, weekly 60-minute TAME sessions (+/- 1 week) with homework in-between sessions to reinforce in-session concepts and serve as transitions to subsequent sessions. The TAME control group will involve board-certified music therapists guiding participants through music listening exercises.

Primary outcomes

  1. Feasibility of studying a telehealth-based Music Therapy/MT intervention for cancer-related cognitive dysfunction/CRCD in hematologic cancer survivors as defined as the completion of 9 or more sessions.

    Time frame: up to 1 year

    The primary objective of this study is to determine the feasibility of studying a telehealth-based Music Therapy/MT intervention for cancer-related cognitive dysfunction/CRCD in hematologic cancer survivors. Feasibility will be defined as the completion of 9 or more sessions out of the planned 12 weekly sessions of music therapy.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Jun Mao, MD, MSCE

CONTACT

[email protected]

646-608-8552

Kevin Liou, MD

CONTACT

[email protected]

646-608-8563

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Pilot Trial of Telehealth Music Therapy for Cognitive Dysfunction in Hematologic Cancer Survivors (PRELUDE)

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2026
First posted
Jul 8, 2025
Registry last updated
May 26, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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