title: Salute to the sun: a new dawn in yoga therapy for breast cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Interest in the application of yoga for health benefits in western medicine is growing rapidly, with a significant rise in publications. The purpose of this systematic review is to determine whether the inclusion of yoga therapy to the treatment of breast cancer can improve the patient's physical and psychosocial quality of life (QoL).
  
  
  METHODS
  A search of peer reviewed journal articles published between January 2009 and July 2014 was conducted. Studies were included if they had more than 15 study participants, included interventions such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) or yoga therapy with or without comparison groups and had stated physical or psychological outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Screening identified 38 appropriate articles. The most reported psychosocial benefits of yoga therapy were anxiety, emotional and social functioning, stress, depression and global QoL. The most reported physical benefits of yoga therapy were improved salivary cortisol readings, sleep quality and lymphocyte apoptosis. Benefits in these areas were linked strongly with the yoga interventions, in addition to significant improvement in overall QoL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The evidence supports the use of yoga therapy to improve the physical and psychosocial QoL for breast cancer patients with a range of benefits relevant to radiation therapy. Future studies are recommended to confirm these benefits. Evidence-based recommendations for implementation of a yoga therapy programme have been derived and included within this review. Long-term follow-up is necessary with these programmes to assess the efficacy of the yoga intervention in terms of sustainability and patient outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Genesis Cancer Care, Bunbury, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0512-9340
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Galliford
authors.affiliation: Radiation Oncology Centres, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.affiliation: University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Pete
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bridge
authors.affiliation: Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: MaryAnn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carmichael
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D015013:Yoga
keywords: Breast; cancer; quality of life; radiation therapy; yoga