Gentle yoga sessions could reduce the spread of tumours in cancer patients and may improve survival odds, scientists believe.

Two 75-minute long sessions of steady Hatha yoga was shown to reduce signs of inflammation in a study of more than 600 cancer patients.

Inflammatory chemical signals are known to be linked to tumour growth and reducing them is a key component of cancer treatment.

Scientists from the University of Rochester in the United States now want clinicians to consider prescribing yoga for patients experiencing inflammation as it “may lead to a high chronic toxicity burden and increased risk of progression, recurrence, and second cancers”.

Few studies have looked at the effectiveness of yoga and meditation on improving a cancer patient’s prognosis but several projects now show promising data.

Scientists are finding that lifestyle factors such as physical activity can help reduce the inflammatory chemicals and work in tandem with pharmacological interventions.

“The basic take home story is that inflammatory chemicals were lowered by yoga,” said Prof Karen Mustian, lead author of two yoga studies from the University of Rochester which were presented at the annual conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago this week.

“This shows that if you choose to do yoga you are going to lower inflammation. These were not advanced patients so we are probably going to have to wait five or ten years to see survivorship data. It is something I really want to do.”