Yoga as an Adjuvant for Cancer Patients in India

Abstract Though Yoga has originated in India, its scientific use to alleviate the sufferings of cancer patients in India is thin. There are very few published studies on yoga intervention for cancer patients from India. The objective of this review was to analyze the studies that have used yoga as an adjuvant for cancer treatment. Literature searches were made in PubMed, CINAHL, Google Scholar, Proquest and Science Direct for retrieving the related studies. Data were analyzed according to the objective. The compiled results show that yoga and pranayama interventions for cancer patients in India focused mostly on psychological aspects like anxiety and depression. Few studies have explored deep into the mechanisms by which the interventions produce the desired effects. Only very few researchers have analyzed the genetic or biochemical changes that occur in the human body as a result of practicing yoga. Currently, the focus is generally on breast cancer. Researches with yoga and pranayama as an adjuvant for other cancers also need to be experimented.

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Assessment of Anxiety and Depression Among Breast Cancer Patients in Ghana

Journal of Global Oncology ◽

10.1200/jgo.18.37000 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement 2) ◽

pp. 99s-99s

Author(s):

K.A. Kyei

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cancer Treatment ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Mixed Method ◽

Qualitative Data ◽

Well Being ◽

Breast Cancer Treatment ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Breast Cancer Patients

Background: Cancer of the breast happens to be one of the most important diseases worldwide and in Ghana, accounts for the highest referral at the study site. The treatment of breast cancer has evolved over the years offering patients high rates of survival. What is missing in the literature are studies that focus on determining levels of depression and anxiety and how this assessment will impact treatment outcome for breast cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy. Hence, recognizing a better understanding in this study will promote positive social change in three different ways. First, it will serve the cancer population especially patients undergoing breast cancer treatment to manage depression and anxiety. Second, it will enhance efforts for coping and finally increase the overall quality of life of these patients undergoing treatment. Aim: This study aims to find various interventions for depression and anxiety among breast cancer patients in Ghana. Methods: The author used a mixed method design to gather both quantitative and qualitative data. The qualitative data were an interview with selected working participants whiles the quantitative data were a nonprobabilistic approach using a structured questionnaire. This mixed method was a triangulation that described how the interviews supported and confirmed the responses from the patient participants. There was an evaluation of the relationships with a combination of two modified scales, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS). The sample consisted of 100 patients between the ages of 20-89, and six professionals with a minimum of five years' work experience. Results: Findings of this study indicated the need intervene through counseling and education on behalf of patients in Ghana as they undergo breast cancer treatment. Age and monthly income of patients were statistically significant in predicting the anxiety and depression among the patients. The R (0.397) value was less than 0.5, which depicted that the alternate hypothesis could be accepted. The independent variables significantly predicted the anxiety and depression. Conclusion: The study illustrates a need to understand how breast cancer patients in Ghana go through treatment with the high impact of anxiety and depression with treatment which affects total well-being and life after treatment. Although interventions and management should be available to breast cancer patients with anxiety and depression undergoing treatment of their coping with the burden of the disease, a striking improvement in the survival of patients could be achieved when proper systems are put in place by the Ministry of Health and the government.

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The effects of an individualized exercise intervention on body composition in breast cancer patients undergoing treatment

Sao Paulo Medical Journal ◽

10.1590/s1516-31802007000100005 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 125 (1) ◽

pp. 22-28 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

Claudio Battaglini ◽

Martim Bottaro ◽

Carolyn Dennehy ◽

Logan Rae ◽

Edgar Shields ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Body Composition ◽

Resistance Training ◽

Cancer Treatment ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Exercise Intervention ◽

Exercise Group ◽

Moderate Intensity ◽

Control Group ◽

Breast Cancer Patients

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Changes in metabolism have been reported in the majority of patients undergoing cancer treatment, and these are usually characterized by progressive change in body composition. The effects of aerobic exercise programs to combat the cancer and cancer treatment-related side effects, which include the negative changes in body composition, have been extensively reported in the literature. However, few resistance exercise intervention studies have hypothesized that breast cancer patients might benefit from this type of exercise. The purpose of this study was to determine whether exercise protocols that emphasize resistance training would change body composition and strength in breast cancer patients undergoing treatment. DESIGN AND SETTING: Randomized controlled trial, at the Campus Recreation Center and Rocky Mountain Cancer Rehabilitation Institute of the University of Northern Colorado, and the North Colorado Medical Center. METHODS: Twenty inactive breast cancer patients were randomly assigned to a 21-week exercise group (n = 10) or a control group (n = 10). The exercise group trained at low to moderate intensity for 60 minutes on two days/week. The primary outcome measurements included body composition (skinfold method) and muscle strength (one repetition maximum). RESULTS: Significant differences in lean body mass, body fat and strength (p = 0.004, p = 0.004, p = 0.025, respectively) were observed between the groups at the end of the study. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that exercise emphasizing resistance training promotes positive changes in body composition and strength in breast cancer patients undergoing treatment.

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Quality of life, anxiety and depression in Turkish breast cancer patients and in their husbands

Medical Oncology ◽

10.1007/s12032-008-9138-z ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 26 (4) ◽

pp. 415-419 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Ahmet Alacacioglu ◽

Tugba Yavuzsen ◽

Meliha Dirioz ◽

Ugur Yilmaz

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Quality Of Life ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Breast Cancer Patients

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Probiotics for the Treatment of Docetaxel-Related Weight Gain of Breast Cancer Patients—A Single-Center, Randomized, Double-Blind, and Placebo-Controlled Trial

Frontiers in Nutrition ◽

10.3389/fnut.2021.762929 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Zhang Juan ◽

Zhang Qing ◽

Liang Yongping ◽

Liyuan Qian ◽

Wei Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Body Weight ◽

Weight Gain ◽

Cancer Treatment ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Body Fat ◽

Breast Cancer Treatment ◽

Body Fat Percentage ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Fat Percentage

Background: Docetaxel is an important chemotherapy-agent for breast cancer treatment. One of its side-effects is weight gain, which increases the all-cause mortality rate. Considering gut microbiota is one important factor for weight regulation, we hypothesized that probiotics could be potentially used to reduce the docetaxel-related weight gain in breast cancer patients.Methods: From 10/8/2018 to 10/17/2019, 100 breast cancer (Stage I-III) patients underwent four cycles of docetaxel-based chemotherapy were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive probiotics (Bifidobacterium longum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, and Enterococcus faecalis) or placebo (supplementary material of the probiotics capsule) treatment for 84 days with three capsules per time, twice/day. The primary outcome: the changes in body weight and body-fat percentage of the patients were measured by a designated physician using a fat analyzer, and the secondary outcomes: the fasting insulin, plasma glucose, and lipids were directly obtained from the Hospital Information System (HIS); The metabolites were measured using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS); The fecal microbiome was analyzed using bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequence. All indicators were measured 1 day before the first cycle of docetaxel-based chemotherapy and 21 days after the last cycle of docetaxel-based chemotherapy.Results: Compared with the placebo group, the probiotic group showed significantly smaller changes in body weight (Mean [SD] 0.77 [2.58] vs. 2.70 [3.08], P = 0.03), body-fat percentage (Mean [SD] 0.04 [1.14] vs. 3.86 [11.09], P = 0.02), and low density lipoprotein (LDL) (Mean [SD]−0.05[0.68] vs. 0.39 [0.58], P = 0.002). Moreover, five of the 340 detected plasma metabolites showed significant differences between the two groups. The change of biliverdin dihydrochloride (B = −0.724, P = 0.02) was inverse correlated with weight gain. One strain of the phylum and three strains of the genus were detected to be significantly different between the two groups. Also, the changes of Bacteroides (B = −0.917, P < 0.001) and Anaerostipes (B = −0.894, P < 0.001) were inverse correlated with the change of LDL.Conclusions: Probiotics supplement during docetaxel-based chemotherapy for breast cancer treatment may help to reduce the increase in body weight, body-fat percentage, plasma LDL, and minimize the metabolic changes and gut dysbacteriosis.Clinical Trial Registration:http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=24294, ChiCTR-INQ-17014181.

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COVID-19 outcomes in patients with a history of breast cancer: A diverse multicenter Los Angeles cohort study.

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2021.39.15_suppl.e12544 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽

pp. e12544-e12544

Author(s):

Nikhita Kathuria-Prakash ◽

Lauren Antrim ◽

Alexander W Sun ◽

Irene Kang ◽

Maria De Lourdes Garcia-Jimenez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cohort Study ◽

Los Angeles ◽

Cancer Treatment ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Hospitalization Rate ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Treatment History ◽

History Of ◽

Extent Of Disease

e12544 Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 has affected over 100 million individuals during the current pandemic. Cancer is a reported risk factor for worse outcomes from SARS-CoV-2 infection and its clinical syndrome COVID-19. However, risk associated with specific cancer subtypes, extent of disease, and treatment history remains unclear. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and is treated with multiple modalities that may affect COVID-19 severity and outcomes, including surgery, radiation (RT), hormone therapy (HT), and chemotherapy (CT). Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with SARS-CoV-2 and history of breast cancer at two academic centers in Los Angeles, CA between January – September, 2020. Demographic information, cancer diagnosis, treatment history, comorbid conditions, and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 were reviewed. The primary outcome was rate of hospitalization for COVID-19. Associations were evaluated for significance by chi-square test or Student’s T test, with a = 0.05. Results: Our cohort included 61 patients with history of breast cancer. 19 (31.1%) required hospitalization and 3 (4.9%) died from COVID-19. Median age was 61 years. 44% of patients were White/Caucasian, 37.7% Hispanic/Latinx, 8% Black/African American, 5% Asian, and 5% were of another race. 87% of patients had local or regional disease and 13% had distant metastases. 53% of patients had ever received CT historically, 66% HT, and 53% RT. 25% of patients received cancer treatment (surgery, CT, or RT) within 90 days of COVID-19 diagnosis. 38% were on HT at time of COVID-19 diagnosis. Patients with prior RT were more likely to be hospitalized from COVID-19 than those with no prior RT (44% vs 14%, p = 0.02), as were patients with 2 or more comorbidities (p = 0.01). In addition, there was a trend toward lower hospitalization rates for patients on HT [24% vs. 42% (p = 0.17)] and a trend toward higher hospitalization rate for non-white ethnicity [35% vs. 25% (p = ns)]. Extent of disease, history of CT, or receipt of any cancer treatment (e.g. surgery, RT, CT) within 90 days of COVID-19 diagnosis were not associated with hospitalization rate. Conclusions: In our diverse cohort of breast cancer patients with COVID-19 a history of RT and presence of multiple comorbidities were both associated with increased risk of hospitalization, while a history of HT was not. Further investigation is needed to validate these findings in larger cohorts. These findings may inform recommendations for breast cancer patients during the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

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Prevalence and predictors of anxiety and depression after breast cancer treatment in North China

The Breast ◽

10.1016/s0960-9776(19)30329-7 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 44 ◽

pp. S94

Author(s):

H. Liu ◽

L. Wang ◽

J. Gao

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cancer Treatment ◽

North China ◽

Breast Cancer Treatment ◽

Anxiety And Depression

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Factors influencing options in primary breast cancer treatment.

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.1987.5.1.68 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 68-74 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

W H Wolberg ◽

M A Tanner ◽

E P Romsaas ◽

D L Trump ◽

J F Malec

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cancer Treatment ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Primary Breast Cancer ◽

Breast Cancer Treatment ◽

Cancer Information ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Term Survival ◽

Tumor Excision ◽

Factors Influencing

Primary breast cancer treatment is determined by tumor factors and by patient preference. Breast cancer treatments that preserve the cosmetic appearance of the breast are appealing and effective for appropriately selected patients; long-term survival following tumor excision and breast irradiation appears to be comparable to that for mastectomy. Since April 1981, when a protocol was developed and treatment options were offered, factors influencing treatment selection have been analyzed in 206 consecutive primary breast cancer patients. Mastectomy was dictated by tumor-related factors in 96 patients (47%); 110 patients (53%) had the option of mastectomy or conservation--tumor excision plus radiotherapy to the breast. Among these 110 eligible patients, 54 chose conservation (49%) and 56 chose mastectomy (51%). Intraoperative findings for ten patients electing conservation necessitated mastectomy, so conservation was accomplished for 44 (21%) of those treated for breast cancer. Beginning in July 1982, breast cancer patients took a battery of psychosexual assessments before any operation (Profile of Mood States [POMS], Health Locus of Control Scale [HLCS] Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test [MAT], Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale [PAIS], Derogatis Sexual Function Inventory [DSFI], Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory [MCMI], and a Breast Cancer Information Test [BCIT]). Comparisons of psychologic and demographic variables were made between patients who chose mastectomy and those who chose conservation. No demographic variable was statistically significantly related to choice, although older women tended to select mastectomy more than younger women. Compared with those who elected conservation, women who elected mastectomy were more tense and anxious (P less than .01), more introverted (P less than .01), felt more depressed and dejected (P less than .05), and reported more sexual problems (P less than .05). Those who elected conservation valued their physical appearance more highly (P less than .01) and were generally more self-interested (P less than .05). Mastectomy was dictated by medical considerations for approximately half of patients with breast cancer. Among candidates for breast conservation, the importance of retaining the breast appeared to be determined to a significant degree by measurable psychological factors.

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