Creative arts therapies show promise in cancer supportive care: full analysis

A new Psycho-Oncology systematic review and meta-analysis is the latest sign that creative arts therapies are gaining traction as a supportive care tool for adults with cancer. The study, by Chou, McKechnie, and Arora, examined randomized controlled trials and focused on three outcomes that matter deeply in oncology practice: anxiety, depression, and quality of life. Its conclusion aligns with a broader body of research suggesting that arts-based interventions can ease emotional distress and improve patients’ lived experience during treatment. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

That question isn’t new. A 2013 meta-analysis in JAMA Internal Medicine covering 27 randomized trials found that creative arts therapies significantly reduced anxiety and depression and improved quality of life during treatment, though benefits were less durable at follow-up. More recent reviews have narrowed the lens and produced a more mixed picture. A 2023 meta-analysis of art therapy in adults with cancer found moderate-quality evidence for improved overall quality of life and reduced anxiety and depression, but noted that the evidence base was drawn largely from women, especially patients with breast cancer. A 2024 review of 25 studies, including only eight RCTs, also found quality-of-life benefits, while reporting no significant pooled effect for depressive symptoms. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Taken together, the literature suggests the field is moving forward, but not in a straight line. Intervention types vary widely, from painting and drawing to music therapy, dance or movement, and multimodal approaches. Study populations are also heterogeneous, spanning different cancer types, treatment settings, and stages of care. That makes it difficult to compare results across trials or identify which components are driving benefit. The newer reviews repeatedly flag moderate-to-high risk of bias and call for larger, better-designed randomized studies. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Industry and clinical guidance reflect that same balance of interest and caution. The joint Society for Integrative Oncology-ASCO guideline on anxiety and depression in adults with cancer recommends several integrative approaches, including mindfulness-based interventions, yoga, relaxation, reflexology, and music therapy in certain settings, but it does not elevate creative arts therapy as a broad category to the same level of recommendation. An ASCO Post summary of the guideline also highlighted the need for more research on creative arts therapies, including art therapy and dance or movement therapy. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

At the practice level, though, arts-based care is already part of the conversation. The American Cancer Society describes art therapy as a mind-body approach that can help patients process emotions and cope with anxiety, depression, and pain, while Oncology Nursing Society literature reviews have similarly concluded that art therapy appears promising but still needs stronger evidence. That’s an important distinction: these interventions are increasingly accepted as supportive options, even as the evidence base remains uneven. (cancer.org)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is less about direct clinical translation and more about how supportive care evidence is evolving. In both human and veterinary medicine, quality of life is often one of the outcomes that matters most to patients, families, and care teams. Research like this reinforces the idea that nonpharmacologic interventions can shape the treatment experience in meaningful ways, even when they don’t alter disease biology. It also underscores a familiar challenge in clinical research: promising interventions can outpace the rigor needed to standardize them, reimburse them, or build them into care pathways.

That matters in veterinary settings because clinicians are often the ones helping pet parents weigh not just survival or response, but comfort, stress, function, and emotional resilience through a long course of care. The human oncology literature is increasingly explicit that distress and quality of life deserve structured attention. Even if creative arts therapy itself isn’t directly transferable to veterinary patients, the broader lesson is: supportive care interventions should be judged on measurable patient-centered outcomes, and those outcomes deserve the same seriousness as more traditional clinical endpoints. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

What to watch: The next phase for this research will likely focus on better trial design, clearer definitions of intervention type and provider training, and subgroup analyses that can tell clinicians which patients are most likely to benefit, especially beyond breast cancer-heavy study populations and beyond short-term treatment windows. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)