Program: Biking and bonding in battle against breast cancer

Researchers at the Medical School’s HealthEmotions Research Institute have zeroed in on a program that can help women dealing with breast cancer get through what may be the worst times of their lives.

The study shows that women in treatment – surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy – can benefit significantly from structured group exercise.

“Data from our initial study strongly suggest that physical activity can be an important addition to the overall treatment of cancer patients,” says Gregory Kolden, associate psychiatry professor and lead investigator on the project.

After 16 weeks of stretching, biking, rowing, running, lifting, swimming and bonding in their battle against cancer, participants showed improvements in many measures of physical fitness as well as psychological well-being. The women have expressed much enthusiasm for the program and appeared to thrive on the group activity. Many of them continued to exercise together after the study, maintaining many of the benefits associated with the training, according to follow-up tests.

Kolden and his associates have adapted a cardiovascular rehabilitation model – the focus of which is a monitored exercise program – to breast cancer patients. The model has been applied with great clinical success to heart patients for some three decades. Exercise is now also acknowledged as an essential element in the treatment of injuries, burns, strokes, arthritis, diabetes and respiratory disorders.

“Some studies report that even moderate levels of exercise are associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer,” says Kolden. “We wanted to examine its influence on quality of life and long-term prognosis in women dealing with breast cancer.”

For the study, researchers enlisted 40 sedentary, post-menopausal women who recently had been diagnosed with primary breast cancer and were either getting chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy, or had just finished it. The women participated in a group exercise program that met three times a week for four months. Exercise physiologists from UW Sports Medicine Center assessed each volunteer’s fitness level, then designed individual programs consisting of stretching and aerobic and strength activities.

At various times before, during and after the study, participants were tested with several measures of physical and psychological health. Comparisons showed that by the end of the study, women displayed significant increases in upper and lower body strength, flexibility and aerobic capacity. In psychological tests, their depression and negative mood scores declined significantly, and assessments of their well-being rose significantly, as did positive mood and their general ability to manage their lives.

Kolden says that many women who are reluctant to exercise many be persuaded by the study. “Our findings – that exercise can in fact improve overall fitness and life quality in cancer patients – may begin to reverse that trend.”