Mumbai: Adding yoga to non-metastatic breast cancer treatment and therapy can prove to be a boon, as per a study conducted by Tata Memorial Hospital. As per its findings, 15% of patients showed relative improvement in disease free survival (DFS) and 14% in overall survival (OS).
The data of the study was presented at the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. It’s the first study where long-term benefits in quality of life were noted with the addition of yoga. Experts said it’s a low-risk, low-cost therapy that can improve day-to-day relief, including in pain and fatigue.
The controlled trial was conducted on 850 breast cancer women over a period of 10 years (2010-20). While 426 subjects were given yoga and conventional exercises (YCE), 424 were given only conventional exercises as therapy.
Dr Rajendra A Badwe, Director of Tata Cancer Hospital, said, “Breast cancer is increasing rapidly among women in India. Adding traditional yoga to advanced medicine will surely help.. This research has been a ray of hope for several patients.”
For the study, a special course was prepared under the supervision of doctors, physiotherapists and yoga trainers. Pranayama for the first two-three months and then various asanas were prescribed daily to patients.
Dr Nita Nair presented the results at the ongoing San Antonio symposium, one of the most prestigious breast cancer conferences in the world held annually in the US. “Out of thousands of research papers submitted to the conference, only a few are chosen for ‘spotlight discussion’, and our study deserved this due to the novelty of intervention and the first very Indian intervention impacting outcomes in breast cancer,” she said.
