Yoga in Treating Sleep Disturbance in Cancer Survivors

Yoga for Persistent Sleep Disturbance in Cancer Survivors

RATIONALE: Yoga may help improve sleep, fatigue, and quality of life in cancer survivors.

PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well yoga works in treating sleep disturbance in cancer survivors.

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

• Determine the efficacy of Hatha yoga in improving sleep quality in cancer survivors experiencing persistent sleep disturbance.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to gender and sleep disturbance rating reported on the eligibility assessment questionnaire (≤ 5 vs > 5). Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 arms.

• Arm I: Patients receive standard care for 6 weeks. Patients may switch to the yoga intervention immediately after study completion.
• Arm II:Patients receive standard care for 2 weeks, followed by two 75-minute sessions of Hatha yoga per week for 4 weeks.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 400 patients will be accrued for this study.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of any type of cancer
• More than 1 primary cancer allowed
• Has undergone and completed all forms of standard treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy) within the past 2 to 24 months
• Patients can be on hormones such as Tamoxifen, or monoclonal antibodies like Herceptin
• Persistent sleep disturbance, as indicated by a response of ≥ 3 when asked to rate their sleep on an 11-point scale (0 is equivalent to no sleep disturbance and 10 is the worst possible sleep disturbance)
• Able to read English
• 21 years of age or older

Exclusion Criteria:

• No prior or concurrent regular (≥ 1 day/week) participation in yoga classes or maintain regular personal practice of any form of yoga within the past 3 months
• No diagnosis of sleep apnea
• No concurrent cancer therapy with the exception of hormonal therapy (e.g., tamoxifen citrate) or monoclonal antibodies (e.g., trastuzumab [Herceptin®])
• No metastatic cancer