Prostate cancer patients who are undergoing radiation therapy can experience health benefits from yoga, according to a new, first-of-its-kind study.

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found that their subjects’ general quality of life and the disease’s prostate cancer side effects were stable throughout a course of outpatient radiation. Side effects of prostate cancers include fatigue, sexual health, and urinary incontinence.

“Data have consistently shown declines in these important measures among prostate cancer patients undergoing cancer therapy without any structured fitness interventions, so the stable scores seen with our yoga program are really good news,” says Dr Neha Vapiwala, an associate professor in the department of Radiation Oncology at the university.

Based on their findings, the team found that a structured yoga intervention in the form of twice-weekly classes is feasible for patients during a six- to nine-week course of outpatient radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

For the study, 68 eligible prostate cancer patients were taught by trained Eischens yoga instructors within the Abramson Cancer Center between May 2013 and June 2014. While 18 of these participants were voluntarily withdrawn early due to unavoidable and unanticipated conflicts between radiation treatment times and the yoga class schedule, the remaining participants were able to complete the experiment.

Eischens yoga incorporates ideas from movement theory and kinesiology and is accessible to all body types and experience levels, according to Tali Mazar Ben-Josef, DMD, a certified Eischens yoga instructor and researcher in the Abramson Cancer Center.

At the end of each class, most yoga participants reported a sense of well-being, the team says. Upon finishing the yoga program and concluding their study involvement, many patients also requested and received an at-home practice routine to fit their needs.

To measure the effect of yoga to prostate cancer patients, the participants were asked to answer a series of questions that assess overall quality-of-life, cancer–related fatigue, and prevalence of sexual and erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence. The researchers chose these variables because they affect so many prostate cancer patients.

According to the team, severity of fatigue scores demonstrated significant variability over the time of treatment, with increases by week four as expected, but then improving over the course of treatment. Erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence, and general quality of life scores demonstrated steady trends.

The possible explanation for the benefits of yoga seen in the study stems from physiologic data demonstrating its ability to help reduce cancer- as well as treatment- related fatigue and to strengthen pelvic floor muscles and increase blood flow. These latter aspects may in turn improve erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence, Vapiwala says.

There may also be a psychosocial benefit that derives from participation in a group fitness activity that incorporates meditation and promotes overall healthiness. And all of this ultimately improves general quality of life,” she adds.

Currently, the team is randomizing prostate cancer patients to participation in this structured yoga program, in order to further characterize the potential benefits of yoga in this population. “This study represents one of many research projects we are conducting in an effort to pinpoint the best, most effective practices to help patients with these needs,” Vapiwala says.

According to Cancer Australia, prostate cancer was the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia in 2011, and is estimated remain this way in 2015. It is estimated that 17,250 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the country in 2015. It is also expected the incidence of prostate cancer among males will increase with age until age group 65 to 69.

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