Yoga may ameliorate radiotherapy related sequelae among head and neck cancer patients

Key findings from this intervention are:

· There were 100 patients with a mean age of 60.3 years. 85 % were male, 79 % NHW, 67 % early stage, 54 % chemo-RT.

· The mean age of caregivers was 54 years. 83 % were female and 78 % NHW. Thirty-four were randomized to DY, 33 to PY and 33 to UC.

· For both yoga arms, session attendance was high, with 88% attending≥ 10 sessions. The mean was 13.13 sessions in the DY and 13.30 sessions in the PY group.

· Intent to treat analyses using multi-level modelling controlling for age, sex, stage of disease and treatment (RT vs CRT) revealed a significant effect between the DY and UC group for the physical function and the nutrition intake PG-SGA subscales favouring the DY

· The other comparisons were insignificant. None of the comparisons related to symptom and weight subscales were significant.

· Based on the logistic regression analyses, there was a significant effect for FT placement, so both the DY and PY groups had significantly fewer FTs than the UC group.

· The effect for ED visits was marginally significant, and the effect for HA was insignificant.

Concluding further, they said, in our study, we found that Yoga therapy, when delivered to patient-caregiver dyads, is a beneficial behavioural, supportive care strategy for HNC patients undergoing RT.

In our study findings, we revealed significantly improved physical function and nutrition intake and fewer FTs relative to a UC comparison group. However, further investigations are warranted.

Reference:

https://meetings.asco.org/abstracts-presentations/227889