Iyengar Yoga for Breast Cancer Survivors with Persistent Fatigue

描述(申请人提供)：目前美国有200多万乳腺癌幸存者，其中许多人经历了持续的癌症相关症状。在成功接受乳腺癌治疗的女性中，疲劳是最常见和最令人痛苦的症状，并导致严重的生活质量中断。瑜伽等心身干预在癌症患者中很受欢迎，并在其他人群中显示出对疲劳的有益效果；然而，瑜伽在癌症中的试验很少。基于一项小型单臂试点研究的可喜结果，这项拟议的研究将评估Lyengar瑜伽干预对患有持续性疲劳的乳腺癌幸存者的可行性、可接受性和初步疗效。在这项随机对照试验中，60名患有持续性癌症相关性疲劳的乳腺癌幸存者将被随机分配到瑜伽或健康教育对照组，为期12周，并随访3个月。该项目的目的是：1)确定与健康教育对照相比，对患有持续性疲劳的乳腺癌幸存者进行为期12周的Lyengar瑜伽干预的可行性和可接受性；2)评估瑜伽和健康教育对患有持续性疲劳的乳腺癌幸存者的疲劳和身体表现的影响；以及3)探索瑜伽和健康教育对与癌症相关的疲劳相关的行为和免疫结果的影响，包括抑郁情绪、睡眠、疼痛、促炎细胞因子活性和生活质量。该项目将构成瑜伽对乳腺癌幸存者疲劳的第一个随机对照试验，并将提供关键的初步数据，以支持更大规模的疗效试验。此外，这项研究将提供对瑜伽的次要影响的洞察，并产生关于干预效果的潜在机制的假说，这些假说可以在更大的试验中进行系统评估。针对癌症相关性疲劳的靶向治疗的发展对于维持不断增长的乳腺癌幸存者的生活质量至关重要。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There are currently over 2 million breast cancer survivors in the United States, many of whom experience persistent cancer-related symptoms. Fatigue is the most common and distressing symptom among women successfully treated for breast cancer and causes serious disruption in quality of life. Mind-body interventions such as yoga are popular among cancer patients and have shown beneficial effects on fatigue in other populations; however, yoga trials in cancer are scarce. Based on promising results from a small, single-arm pilot study, the proposed study will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of an lyengar yoga intervention for breast cancer survivors with persistent fatigue. In this randomized, controlled trial, 60 breast cancer survivors with persistent cancer-related fatigue will be randomly assigned to yoga or health education control for 12 weeks and followed for 3 months. The aims of the project are to: 1) determine the feasibility and acceptability of a 12-week lyengar yoga intervention for breast cancer survivors with persistent fatigue as compared with health education control; 2) evaluate the effects of yoga vs. health education on fatigue and physical performance in breast cancer survivors with persistent fatigue; and 3) explore the effects of yoga vs. health education on behavioral and immune outcomes associated with cancer- related fatigue, including depressed mood, sleep, pain, proinflammatory cytokine activity, and quality of life. This project will constitute the first randomized, controlled trial of yoga for fatigue in breast cancer survivors and will provide key preliminary data to support a larger efficacy trial. In addition, the study will provide insight into secondary effects of yoga and generate hypotheses about potential mechanisms for intervention effects that can be systematically evaluated in a larger trial. The development of targeted treatments for cancer-related fatigue is critical for maintaining quality of life in the growing population of breast cancer survivors.