# Peer support and support groups

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/peer-support-groups/  
OnCo record `peer-support-groups` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Meeting others in the same situation reduces distress and isolation, and randomised trials of supportive-expressive groups show better mood and pain coping. The once-famous claim that support groups lengthen survival did not hold up in a larger trial.

## Summary

Peer support ranges from one-to-one matched volunteers to professionally led supportive-expressive groups. Randomised trials show reduced distress, improved mood and better coping with pain in participants, with effects largest in those most distressed at baseline. A small 1989 trial suggested that supportive-expressive group therapy doubled survival in metastatic breast cancer; the multicentre replication of 235 women (Goodwin et al., NEJM 2001) found improved mood and pain but no survival difference, and later trials agreed. Support groups are therefore for quality of life, not for the tumour. Online communities extend reach but also spread misinformation, so oncology teams increasingly signpost moderated, charity-run groups.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: established
- Last checked: 2026-09-10
- Tags: complementary; supportive-care; evidence:moderate
- Principle: Shared experience normalises fear, models coping strategies and reduces isolation; group facilitation adds emotional expression and problem-solving.
- Strengths: Randomised evidence for mood and pain coping; Cheap and widely available through charities; Reaches people who would not see a psychologist
- Limitations: No survival effect; Quality varies; unmoderated online groups can misinform; Not a substitute for treating clinical depression

## Notes

- Bowel cancer: Bowel Cancer UK runs online communities, a forum, an Ask the Nurse service and a stoma support group; Cancer Research UK runs Cancer Chat and a freephone nurse line; Maggie's centres are free, need no appointment and are open to family and friends as well as patients.
- Lung cancer: Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation offers support online, in person and by phone, with information days, support groups and community events, a telephone line staffed by lung cancer nurses, free booklets, patient stories and a podcast. Cancer Research UK keeps a list of lung cancer resources and support organisations, and runs Cancer Chat. Maggie's centres are open without an appointment to patients and to family and friends.
- Lymphoma: Lymphoma Action runs a free helpline, a buddy service pairing people with someone in a similar position, online and in-person support meetings including ones on active monitoring, fatigue, relapsed disease, stem cell transplants and engineered T-cell therapy, a Facebook support group, and the Live your Life workshops for people living with and beyond lymphoma. Maggie's centres are free, need no appointment and are open to family and friends.

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Support_group
- Supportive-expressive group therapy and survival in metastatic breast cancer (NEJM 2001): https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa011871
- SIO-ASCO guideline: integrative oncology care of anxiety and depression (JCO 2023): https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.23.00857
- Bowel Cancer UK: supporting someone with bowel cancer: https://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/about-bowel-cancer/living-with-and-beyond-bowel-cancer/emotional-wellbeing/supporting-someone-with-bowel-cancer/
- Cancer Research UK: coping with bowel cancer: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/bowel-cancer/living-with/coping
- Maggie's: support and information: https://www.maggies.org/support-and-information/
- Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation: the support available to you: https://roycastle.org/our-support/
- Cancer Research UK: lung cancer resources and support organisations: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/lung-cancer/living-with/resources-books
- Lymphoma Action: helpline services: https://lymphoma-action.org.uk/information-and-support/support-you/helpline-services
- Lymphoma Action: the emotional impact of living with lymphoma: https://lymphoma-action.org.uk/information-and-support/living-and-beyond-lymphoma/emotional-impact-living-lymphoma

## Connected records

- cancers: [Advanced-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma (stage III to IV)](https://onco.cc/cancers/advanced-stage-classical-hodgkin-lymphoma/), [Breast cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-cancer/), [Burkitt lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/burkitt-lymphoma/), [Colorectal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/colorectal/), [Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (mycosis fungoides and Sezary syndrome)](https://onco.cc/cancers/cutaneous-t-cell-lymphoma/), [Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/dlbcl/), [Early-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma (stage I to II)](https://onco.cc/cancers/early-stage-classical-hodgkin-lymphoma/), [Extranodal marginal zone lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT lymphoma)](https://onco.cc/cancers/malt-lymphoma/), [Follicular lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/follicular-lymphoma/), [Hodgkin lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/hodgkin-lymphoma/), [HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-hr-positive/), [Lung cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/lung-cancer/), [Mantle cell lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/mantle-cell-lymphoma/), [Marginal zone lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/marginal-zone-lymphoma/), [Nodal marginal zone lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/nodal-marginal-zone-lymphoma/), [Nodal T-follicular helper cell lymphoma, angioimmunoblastic type (angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma)](https://onco.cc/cancers/angioimmunoblastic-t-cell-lymphoma/), [Nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (nodular lymphocyte-predominant B-cell lymphoma)](https://onco.cc/cancers/nodular-lymphocyte-predominant-hodgkin-lymphoma/), [Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/non-hodgkin-lymphoma/), [Non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/nsclc/), [Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/pancreatic/), [Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (including cutaneous T-cell lymphoma)](https://onco.cc/cancers/peripheral-t-cell-lymphoma/), [Primary CNS lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/primary-cns-lymphoma/), [Primary mediastinal (thymic) large B-cell lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/primary-mediastinal-b-cell-lymphoma/), [Prostate cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/prostate/), [Relapsed and refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/relapsed-refractory-hodgkin-lymphoma/), [Sezary syndrome](https://onco.cc/cancers/sezary-syndrome/), [Skin cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/skin-cancer/), [Small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/sclc/), [Splenic marginal zone lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/splenic-marginal-zone-lymphoma/), [Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)](https://onco.cc/cancers/tnbc/), [Waldenström macroglobulinaemia](https://onco.cc/cancers/waldenstrom/)
- fronts: [Supportive Care & Survivorship](https://onco.cc/fronts/supportive-care/)
- technologies: [Evidence-based integrative oncology](https://onco.cc/technologies/integrative-oncology/), [Psycho-oncology and distress screening](https://onco.cc/technologies/psycho-oncology/)
- institutions: [Macmillan Cancer Support](https://onco.cc/institutions/macmillan-cancer-support/)
- terms: [Body image after breast surgery and reconstruction](https://onco.cc/terms/body-image-after-breast-surgery/), [Living with an indolent lymphoma rather than being cured of one](https://onco.cc/terms/lymphoma-living-indolent-lymphoma/), [Quality of life](https://onco.cc/terms/quality-of-life/), [Treatment at the local hospital or at a cell-therapy centre far from home](https://onco.cc/terms/lymphoma-decision-local-or-car-t-centre/), [Watch and wait in follicular lymphoma: being told you have cancer and that nobody will treat it](https://onco.cc/terms/lymphoma-decision-watch-and-wait/)
- bottlenecks: [Misinformation and unproven therapies](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-misinformation/), [Patients lack understanding, navigation and agency](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-patient-voice/)
- key papers: [Integrative Oncology Care of Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression in Adults With Cancer: Society for Integrative Oncology-ASCO Guideline](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-carlson-j-clin-oncol/), [The effect of group psychosocial support on survival in metastatic breast cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-goodwin-n-engl-j-med/)

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