A new clinical trial published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology shows yoga can significantly reduce insomnia, fatigue, and mood disturbances for cancer survivors.
Led by researchers funded by the National Cancer Institute, the study compared 204 survivors receiving standard care against 206 who added the Yoga for Cancer Survivors (YOCAS) program. The YOCAS group practiced yoga for roughly 180 minutes per week over four weeks.
Results show that participants in the yoga group reported overall improvements in mood, anxiety, and fatigue, while the standard care group did not. Researchers suggest that improvements in insomnia may be driven by changes in mood and fatigue.
Fumiko Chino, MD, a cancer researcher at MD Anderson Cancer Center, called the finding an important advance, noting it offers survivors a non-drug approach to managing multiple side effects at once. Experts say yoga is affordable and highly modifiable, allowing people with physical impairments to participate.
Thyroid-cancer survivor and social worker Shari Botwin described the practice as transformative, saying it helps reframe self-perception from shame to self-compassion.