Exercise could impact breast cancer survivors

A new study has indicated that exercise could influence how well breast cancer survivors recover, but many patients aren't being active enough.

For decades, scientists have been saying that physical exercise is good for our health, but now researchers are suggesting that it could be beneficial for women recovering from breast cancer.

The American study, published in the Cancer journal, found that many females aren't doing enough exercise with just a third reaching the recommended levels of activity. The team looked at pre and post-diagnosis exercise levels of 1,735 women between the ages of 20 and 74, who had all been diagnosed with breast cancer between 2008 and 2011 in North Carolina.

In the US and the UK, adults are recommended to do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity each week for general health benefits and to prevent and manage chronic diseases. However, the study found just 35 per cent of women who had suffered breast cancer met the physical activity guidelines.

The study also found that African-American women were less likely to meet the guidelines than white women. The findings suggest that efforts to support and encourage physical exercise after diagnosis may need to be significantly enhanced for the wellbeing of patients.

It also found that activity fell approximately six months after diagnosis. More than half (59 per cent) of patients recorded a decrease in exercise after this period, with the average participant reducing activity by 15 metabolic equivalent hours, which is around five hours per week of brisk walking. 

When race was taken into consideration, the team found that African-American women were about 40 percent less likely to meet national physical activity guidelines post-diagnosis than white females, despite there not being a huge difference in their reported weekly post-diagnosis activity (12 vs 14 metabolic equivalent hours). 

Brionna Hair, a doctoral candidate in epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, noted that it's important to realise that African-American women also experience higher mortality from breast cancer than other groups in the US.

She added that care providers need to discuss the role of physical activity for breast cancer patients and "strategies that may be successful in increasing physical activity among breast cancer patients need to be comprehensively evaluated and implemented".