Exercise Found to Increase Breast Cancer Survival

by | Aug 26, 2008 | 2008, Breast Cancer, Cancer, Fitness and Exercise

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Researchers found that those doing brisk walk 2 years after their diagnosis had a 66% reduced risk of death. 

Breast cancer caused an estimated 40,580 deaths in 2004 (1). It is estimated that breast cancer accounted for up to 25% of the $156.7 billion in cancer costs in the U.S. in 2001 (2).

Researchers have started to examine the role of exercise in breast cell health. A 2005 study (3) found that “physical activity after a breast cancer diagnosis may reduce the risk of death from this disease” and a 2007 study (4) found that exercise even helps patients undergoing breast cancer treatment.

Now a new study (5) has again found that exercise is beneficial to women’s health, including survival after breast cancer diagnosis. In the study, 933 women from the Health, Eating, Activity, and Lifestyle (HEAL) Study (6) who were diagnosed with local or regional breast cancer between 1995 and 1998 were observed until death or September 2004, whichever came first. The researchers found that, compared with inactive women, those doing 2-3 hours per week of brisk walking in the year before their breast cancer diagnosis had a 31% reduced risk of death. Those doing the brisk walking 2 years after their diagnosis had a 66% reduced risk of death.

Finally, compared with women who were inactive both before and after diagnosis, women who increased physical activity after their diagnosis had a 45% reduced risk of death. Women who decreased physical activity after diagnosis had a 400% increased risk of death. All of these results led the researchers to conclude that “moderate-intensity physical activity after a diagnosis of breast cancer may improve prognosis.”

Source: Irwin, Melinda L., Ashley Wilder Smith, Anne McTiernan, Rachel Ballard-Barbash, Kathy Cronin, Frank D. Gilliland, Richard N. Baumgartner, Kathy B. Baumgartner, and Leslie Bernstein. “Influence of pre-and postdiagnosis physical activity on mortality in breast cancer survivors: the health, eating, activity, and lifestyle study.” Journal of clinical oncology 26, no. 24 (2008): 3958-3964.

© 2008 by American Society of Clinical Oncology

Posted August 26, 2008. 

References:

  1. “2004/2005 Fact Sheet Cancer Registries: The Foundation for Cancer Prevention and Control” posted on the CDC website.
  2. Radice D. Breast cancer management: quality-of-life and cost considerations. Pharmacoeconomics 2003;21(6):383-96.
  3. Chlebowski, R. T., M. Pettinger, et al. (2004). “Insulin, physical activity, andcaloric intake in postmenopausal women: breast cancer implications.” J Clin Oncol 22(22): 4507-13.
  4. Schneider CM. .Effects of Supervised Exercise Training on Cardiopulmonary Function and Fatigue in Breast Cancer Survivors During and After Treatment.Cancer 2007;110:918–25.
  5. Irvin ML. Influence of Pre- and Postdiagnosis Physical Activity on Mortality in Breast Cancer Survivors: The Health, Eating, Activity, and Lifestyle Study. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2008; 26(24): 3958-3964 DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2007.15.9822.
  6. “The Health, Eating, Activity, and Lifestyle (HEAL) Study” posted on the National Cancer Institute website.