One cancer survivor wrote a song describing what it feels like to finally be "seen" and "heard." That song — one of 26 written during music therapy sessions — tells a much bigger story about what life is really like after cancer treatment, long after the medical battles end.
Beyond persistent physical conditions, cancer survivorship can bring anxiety, depression and isolation that linger for years. Now, researchers at Drexel University in Philadelphia are using songwriting to understand those hidden struggles and help survivors manage them. The work builds on the MELODY trial, a collaboration between Drexel and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center that tested music therapy against cognitive behavioral therapy — the current gold standard for managing anxiety in cancer care.
The MELODY trial followed 300 cancer survivors experiencing anxiety. About half received telehealth cognitive behavioral therapy, a goal-focused form of talk therapy. The other half worked with board-certified music therapists, who guided them through music experiences — including writing their own songs — to move toward personalized health goals. The trial showed that composing songs with a therapist helped survivors lower their anxiety.
Sarah Biedka, a Ph.D. candidate in Professor Joke Bradt's Music, Creativity and Wellness Lab at Drexel, then led a qualitative study digging into what those 26 songs revealed. Published in the Journal of Cancer Survivorship, the study found needs and challenges that went far beyond cancer-related anxiety: prioritizing self-care, redefining identity, navigating relationships and finding deeper meaning.
"Several songs described how coping with one challenge often created new challenges in other areas of life, especially relationships," said Biedka. Survivors described feeling torn between acting on their needs and keeping their relationships comfortable — and many had been choosing their relationships over their own needs, leading to feelings of isolation and resentment.
Songwriting gave survivors a safe path to explore thoughts they might otherwise avoid. Many cancer patients hold back difficult feelings because they fear burdening loved ones or being misunderstood. In the song sessions, those walls came down — one participant described feeling uniquely "seen" and "heard" through the collaborative process.
A related study led by Bradt in the European Journal of Integrative Medicine found that music therapy seemed to help survivors not just by calming anxious moments but by letting them engage with the deeper personal, relational and societal experiences that shape anxiety during survivorship. Survivors also valued learning music strategies they could carry into daily life, along with a renewed appreciation for music and creativity as accessible tools for self-care.
Music won't erase the challenges of survivorship, but these songs give voice to what survivors rarely say aloud — and in the process, remind them they aren't alone. As Biedka's research continues, those 26 songs are helping clinicians understand exactly what survivors need, one verse at a time.