A systematic review on the effects of logotherapy and meaning-centered therapy on psychological and existential symptoms in women with breast and gynecological cancer

PurposeWomen diagnosed with breast cancer (BC) and gynecological cancer (GC) face psychological and existential challenges common to all cancers, such as anxiety and depression, along with specific issues related to body image and sexuality. Logotherapy and meaning-centered therapy (MCT) have shown positive effects on the psychological well-being of cancer patients.MethodsA systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines to assess the impact of logotherapy and meaning-centered therapy (MCT) on women diagnosed with BC and GC from January 2014 to December 2024. Empirical research articles published in English were included, while literature reviews, meta-analyses, doctoral theses, preprints, books, and studies involving other cancer types or metastatic/comorbid conditions were excluded. The search was conducted across Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed databases using terms like uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, mastectomy, logotherapy, and MCT. The Boolean operators AND and OR were used in the Title and Abstract search fields across all three databases, as well as in the Topic search field for the WoS database.ResultsOut of the 36 articles initially obtained, 29 remained after eliminating duplicates and, finally, six papers were selected. The included studies examined various psychological and existential issues in patients with breast and gynecological cancer, including anxiety, distress, depression, hopelessness, death anxiety, post-traumatic stress, perception of physical symptoms, quality of life, post-traumatic growth, spiritual well-being, and meaning in life.ConclusionFindings suggest that logotherapy decreases depressive symptoms, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress, whereas improves meaning in life, quality of life, physical symptom perception, and post-traumatic growth in women with BC and GC. Implementing logotherapy in cancer care units through a multidisciplinary approach could be valuable, considering biopsychosocial factors, and incorporating aspects of self-image and sexuality in treatment would also be beneficial.