Is there evidence that prayer improves cancer survival?
No. There is no randomized trial evidence that prayer changes cancer survival, tumor response, or recurrence, because no trial has measured those things.
The largest study of prayer in cancer patients was run at a hospital in Adelaide and published in 2012. It randomized nearly a thousand people and measured spiritual wellbeing on a questionnaire. It found a statistically significant but very small improvement in how people reported feeling. It did not look at survival, scans, or recurrence, and about a third of participants did not complete follow-up.
Research on a person's own religion and spirituality is a separate question with separate answers. Meta-analyses published in the journal Cancer in 2015 pooled hundreds of studies and found small positive associations with patient-reported physical, mental, and social wellbeing. The researchers themselves described the associations as modest, and they are correlations rather than evidence that one thing causes the other.
The National Cancer Institute's professional summary on spirituality in cancer care discusses coping, spiritual distress, and quality of life at length. It makes no claim that prayer affects cancer survival.
Your care team can tell you what is known about the treatments available for your specific cancer.
Want the full picture? Read our complete explanation: Does Prayer Cure Cancer? What Studies Show
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