Cancer Control Research
5R29CA075452-05
Pinto, Bernardine M.
HOME BASED MODERATE EXERCISE FOR BREAST CANCER PATIENTS
AbstractDESCRIPTION: Innovative treatments for the rehabilitation of the growing
number of cancer survivors are sorely needed. Breast cancer patients who
have completed medical treatment for cancer experience considerable
psychological distress (e.g., anxiety, depression, poor body image), and
physical symptoms of fatigue and weight gain that can last several years
post-treatment. With increased survival rates, these psychosocial
difficulties have become more salient. The investigators propose to offer
early-stage breast cancer survivors an innovative treatment program to
ameliorate some of the physical and psychological symptoms that accompany
cancer diagnosis and treatment, and to facilitate resumption of life-tasks.
Exercise participation in other populations has been shown to reduce
affective distress, improve body image, increase sense of empowerment, and
reduce fatigue and weight gain.
This study proposes to examine the feasibility of a home-based moderate
exercise program among breast cancer survivors and the benefits that these
women could gain from participating in such a program. One hundred and
thirty-four women with early-stage breast cancer (Stages 0, I and II
diagnosed within the past two years) who have completed surgery and adjuvant
therapy will be invited to participate. Subjects will be randomized to a
12-week home-based exercise program or a contact control condition.
Participants will be asked to complete standardized measures of exercise,
mood, quality of life, physical symptoms, body image and coping before
treatment, at 12 weeks, 6 months and 9 months (3 and 6 month follow-ups).
Exercise participation will be measured by self-report and by Caltrac
accelerometers. A 12-minute walk test will be conducted at pretreatment and
at 12 weeks. Analyses of covariance will be used to assess treatment
effects and regression analyses will be used to determine which types of
patients benefit from this unique cancer rehabilitation program.
By evaluating the effects of a home-based exercise program on quality of
life and mood in cancer survivors, this study can serve as a precursor to
examining the long-term effects of exercise on quality of life and cancer
recurrence. This study also raises the intriguing possibility of
elucidating the physiological effects of exercise on hormonal and immune
mechanisms involved in breast cancer.
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