Yoga therapy during cancer treatment: A review

Purpose To guide the future science and medical practice, reviews of yoga studies that differentiate the outcomes of trials performed during (vs after) cancer therapy are required. As a result, we carried out a review of non-randomized studies as well as randomized trials of yoga treatments for children and adults receiving cancer therapy. Methods Research sources and reference lists were used to find studies. The following were the criteria for inclusion: (1) children or adults receiving cancer treatment, (2) yoga or an element of yoga as just an intervention, and (3) participant journal publication in English until October 2015. (1) samples receiving just hormone treatment, (2) therapies using only meditation, and (3) yoga given as part of a larger cancer recovery or insight meditation stress reduction program were all excluded. The majority of findings point to an improvement in psychological outcomes (e.g., depression, distress, anxiety). Yoga was also shown to improve quality of life in many trials, but further research is required to determine domain-specific effectiveness (e.g., physical, social, cancer-specific). In terms of physical and biological results, evidence is mounting that yoga improves sleep and tiredness; however, further study is required to confirm early findings for other therapeutic outcomes and stress/immunity biomarkers. Conclusions Evidence supports advising yoga to people receiving cancer treatment for improving psychosocial outcomes, with the potential to help improve physical symptoms. The evidence for yoga's effectiveness in pediatric oncology is inadequate. We provide recommendations for improving yoga research methods in order to improve clinical practice guidelines.