Using Multidisciplinary Lifestyle Medicine to Enhance Cancer Survivor QOL

In a conversation with CancerNetwork^®, Rachel A. Millstein, PhD, MHS; Loren Winters, NP; and Amy Comander, MD, discussed their article titled Implementing a Multidisciplinary Lifestyle Medicine Clinic for Cancer Survivorship, which was published in the November 2024 issue of ONCOLOGY^®. The authors detailed the implementation of a novel oncology-based multidisciplinary lifestyle medicine clinic that may help enhance the quality of life (QOL) among survivors of cancer.

Millstein is a psychologist in the Behavioral Medicine Program and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. Winters is an oncology nurse practitioner and assistant director of the Lifestyle Medicine Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. Comander is the medical director of Mass General Cancer Center-Waltham, director of the Breast Oncology Program at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, and director of the Lifestyle Medicine Program at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Millstein outlined the rationale for this publication on the development of a multidisciplinary lifestyle medicine clinic, highlighting a need to boost general awareness and support for lifestyle medicine consultations and health behavior change in cancer survivor care. Winters then explained how the multidisciplinary clinic works in alignment with 6 key pillars of lifestyle medicine, as team members aim to promote physical activity, plant-predominant diets, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances, and social connections to enhance QOL among cancer survivors.

Additionally, Comander highlighted how the lifestyle medicine program optimizes health and well-being by matching patients to the specific services they require, which may include the help of team members such as board-certified physicians, nurse practitioners, registered dietitians, and clinical psychologists. Millstein and Winters then detailed the improvements in health behaviors associated with 2 patient cases at their program, demonstrating the potential benefits of implementing broad and diverse lifestyle medicine tools in oncology-supportive care.

Looking ahead, Comander described the importance of addressing gaps in education, a lack of programs focused on areas such as weight management, and other barriers to the implementation of lifestyle medicine in oncology care. Finally, each author expressed her hope to see more colleagues, clinics, and programs incorporate lifestyle medicine as part of elevating QOL among survivors of cancer. The authors invite listeners to contact them if they would like to find ways to implement lifestyle medicine in their respective centers.