By Kelly Hsu
Exercise has numerous positive effects on physical and mental health. Many people are familiar with the relationship between exercise and diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. However, what is the relationship between exercise and breast cancer?
Different exercise regimens may work for people at different points of their disease trajectory. A vast body of research has shown the beneficial effects of exercise for patients at all different points of their illnesses.
Exercise during treatment can improve symptoms.
While chemotherapy can typically cause decreased cardiovascular fitness, a study showed that patients who completed a 12-week supervised exercise program during neoadjuvant chemotherapy had no change in cardiovascular fitness by the end of the program [1].
One study showed that mobilization stretching exercises improved chest flexibility for patients after breast surgery [2].
A study demonstrated that breast cancer survivors receiving adjuvant chemotherapy benefited from supervised heavy-load resistance exercise, with no increased risk of lymphedema [3].
A randomized trial of a resistance exercise intervention in patients starting adjuvant chemotherapy led to decreased physical fatigue and improved quality of life [4].
Exercise can have beneficial effects on cancer outcomes.
A study showed that patients who underwent a year-long diet and exercise intervention during neoadjuvant chemotherapy had improved pathological complete response (a prognostic factor associated with longer survival after treatment) than those who received usual care [5].
Research shows that aerobic and stretching exercises improved quality of life and also reduced depression severity for patients after completing treatment [6].
A review evaluating various studies looking at diet, exercise, and combined diet and exercise interventions found that fat loss was consistently associated with decreased risk of cancer recurrence [7].
Reviews across different studies have found that increased physical activity is associated with decreased incidence of breast cancer-related death [8,