According to new research, tailored exercise programs for breast cancer patients are associated with improvements in quality of life and may also reduce healthcare costs.
The findings come from a study to be presented at the 24th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons on April 28, highlighted during a pre-meeting briefing.
In the study, more than 240 patients with early-stage breast cancer were assigned to either a 12-week exercise program or standard care. Those in the exercise group completed a 12-week personalized exercise program in accordance with the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines for cancer survivors. This included 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise per week, such as walking or using a stationary bike, along with two or three 60-minute full-body resistance training sessions using free weights or exercise bands.
This intervention was associated with significant improvements in quality of life, which were linked to a notable reduction in the number of patients requiring healthcare services. Researchers found reductions of 33.2% in emergency department visits, 21.5% in hospital outpatient visits, and 41.8% in private office visits.
“All dimensions of health-related quality of life were positively impacted by exercise,” said Karen Wonders, founder and CEO of Maple Tree Cancer Alliance in Dayton, OH, and professor of exercise physiology at Wright State University in Fairborn, OH, who presented the study.
She suggested that exercise could be used "to reduce healthcare costs for patients with early-stage breast cancer."
Sarah L. Blair, vice chair and professor in the Department of Surgery at UC San Diego Health, commented on the findings, stating that exercise programs demonstrated benefits in reducing complications and emergency visits.
“Many of my patients ask me what they can do to improve their outcomes,” she said. “I can now recommend incorporating moderate exercise into their routine, which provides tangible benefits.”
A second study presented at the meeting examined the effects of interventions aimed at improving the health of breast cancer patients prior to surgery, known as prehabilitation.
These women received a personalized exercise program along with nutritional support and counseling while undergoing chemotherapy before surgery. Compared to those receiving standard care, they demonstrated improvements in exercise capacity and quality of life.
Prehabilitation and standard care groups had similar physical capacities at the start of the study.
Those in the exercise group maintained their function, as measured by the distance walked in 6 minutes, and significantly increased their overall activity levels to recommended guidelines after both chemotherapy and surgery.
In contrast, standard care groups showed a decline in the distance they could walk in 6 minutes, and their activity level improvements were modest.
While both groups reported increased fatigue after chemotherapy, patients in the prehabilitation group recovered much better and reported a significantly higher quality of life compared to those receiving standard care.
"The impact of our prehabilitation program was quite positive," said Frances Wright, a scientist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, ON, Canada, and the study's author, noting that no adverse effects were reported.
