Mumbai: Music is known to improve people’s mood and reduce stress levels, but does it have a role in cancer therapy? This is one of the questions that doctors at Tata Memorial Centre will try to scientifically answer once their new research facility in Khopoli, Raigad district, is established next year.
The 100-bed hospital and research centre will test commonly held anti-cancer beliefs to ascertain if they have a scientific basis. “We will assess yoga’s role in cancer as well as the effectiveness of ayurvedic medications, plant extracts, or seaweed in combating cancer,” said Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, director of Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research & Education in Cancer (ACTREC), TMC’s centre in Kharghar.

He said social media mentions many natural cures for cancers. “We will check if these social media posts are worthy or harmful for the people,” said Dr Chaturvedi.
Music, like yoga, has many anecdotal reviews of having a positive effect on patients. On Thursday, when singer Shaan inaugurated a MENCAN initiative focusing on male-only cancers at ACTREC, Dr Chaturvedi said music has a role in palliative care and the Khopoli centre would explore the connection in detail. “Work has already begun, and it is likely to be ready next year.”
Music has long been used as an add-on therapy. Sarod player Vivek Joshi, who calls himself a ‘music healer’, has performed for inmates of Thane Mental Hospital on multiple occasions. A year ago, Jaslok Hospital conducted a pilot study to assess whether performing music or dance, along with meditation, checked the progress of Parkinson’s disease.
A 2022 study of 102 cancer patients in Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, Ahmedabad, indicated that those undergoing pain and palliative care experienced “notable outcomes from music therapy sessions, including a significant decrease in anxiety and pain perception, along with enhancements in mood and motivation”.
An American study of 750 patients found music could be used as a tool for “distress reduction” during chemotherapy. Patients were randomly assigned to either music (listen to music for up to 60 minutes) or control (no music) conditions. “Patients who listened to self-selected music during infusion showed significant benefit in improved positive mood and reduced negative mood and distress (but not pain) from pre- to post-intervention,” said the report published in 2023. “Music medicine is a low-touch, low-risk, and cost-effective way to manage patients’ psychological well-being in the often stressful context of a cancer infusion clinic.”