Exercise improves physical, mental health of breast cancer patients

Breast cancer patients can benefit in many ways from a structured exercise program, researchers at UW Medical School‘s HealthEmotions Research Institute have found. Women who completed a 16-week supervised program showed significant improvements in physical fitness as well as psychological well-being.

“The positive responses we have seen from our initial study strongly suggest that physical activity can be an important addition to the overall treatment of cancer patients,” said Gregory Kolden, UW Medical School associate professor of psychiatry.

The researchers have begun recruiting volunteers for a second study. Participants must have been diagnosed with primary breast cancer (stages I, II or III) within one year of beginning the exercise program and must have completed their initial surgical treatment. 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,” said 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 were asked to participate in a group exercise program that met three times a week for 16 weeks. Each volunteer’s fitness level was first assessed by exercise physiologists from UW Sports Medicine Center, who 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.

Women involved in the study expressed much enthusiasm for the program and appeared to thrive on the group activity. Many of them continued to exercise after the study, maintaining many of the benefits associated with the training, according to follow-up tests.

“Cancer patients are often reluctant to participate in regular exercise, and physicians don’t usually encourage or prescribe it,” Kolden said. “Our findings–that exercise can in fact improve overall fitness and life quality in cancer patients–may begin to reverse that trend.”

To learn more about the study, call Anika Paaren at 608-263-6151.