OBJECTIVES: The aims of conducting this research are to investigate the role of yoga therapy in improving quality of life and to identify any methods proposed to improve awareness and accessibility of yoga to these patients. METHODS: PubMed/Medline, QUT library, Cochrane, ScienceDirect, and Scopus were searched for peer reviewed journal articles published between January 2009 and July 2014. The search terms included were 'yoga', 'breast cancer', and 'radiotherapy'. RESULTS: 13 randomised controlled trials were identified as eligible for inclusion, along with five literature reviews, five non-randomised trials, and six other journal articles of relevance. The most reported psychosocial benefits of yoga therapy were improved anxiety, emotional and social functioning, stress, depression and global quality of life. The most reported physical benefits of yoga therapy were improved salivary cortisol readings, sleep quality and lymphocyte apoptosis. This review has identified several accessible sources of yoga therapy for breast cancer patients in Australia, which may be enhanced by utilising the methods proposed to improve awareness and accessibility of this complementary therapy to breast cancer patients. CONCLUSIONS: Yoga therapy is a viable complementary therapy and should be instigated in tandem with radiation therapy. This will significantly preserve quality of life in breast cancer patients. It would also be of benefit to perform long term follow up studies, focusing on benefit sustainability, recurrence rates, and overall survival.

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