No abstract

Our combined exercise plus diet program may contribute to improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness and body weight compared with control group.

It has been reported that physical fitness of breast cancer patients is relatively lower due to the cancer treatment such as surgery, chemotherapy, or endocrine therapy. Previous studies have revealed that not only cardiorespiratory fitness but also muscle strength is lower among breast cancer patients than no disease women and these symptoms may aggravate the health-related quality of life. However, there is no study which has focused the physical fitness level in Japanese breast cancer survivors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the physical fitness level and the relationship between exercise habituation and physical fitness level in Japanese breast cancer survivors. Fifty breast cancer survivors participated in this study. Participants were assigned to either exercise habituation group (n=25) or non-exercise group (n=25). We evaluated exercise habituation using an original questionnaire and examined various physical fitness level. Body weight, body mass index, and percent body fat were significantly lower in the exercise habituation group than non-exercise group. T-score of cardiorespiratory fitness was significantly higher in the exercise habituation group than average Japanese women. These results suggested that exercise habituation is relative to body weight and cardiorespiratory fitness level in Japanese breast cancer survivors.

Background Remarkable deterioration of physical fitness is a well-established adverse event associated with endocrine therapy among breast cancer patients. Especially, impairment in cardiorespiratory fitness has been often reported in previous studies, affecting patients' health and survival. Peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) is the gold standard for assessing cardiorespiratory fitness and is inversely correlated with cardiovascular disease among women with breast cancer as well as ordinal people. A number of previous studies have reported that aerobic exercise improves the risk of cardiovascular disease. Moreover, a proper diet program positively influences VO2peak. However, almost all studies have been conducted in the Western community and there are few studies forcing on Asian women who have lower BMI compared with Western ones. Therefore, we investigated the feasibility of a combined exercise and diet program among Japanese cancer patients undergoing endocrine therapy and the effect on VO2peak. Methods Thirty-Two Japanese women with breast cancer undergoing endocrine therapy (age; 50±6 years, body weight; 126±22 lbs) were voluntarily assigned to either intervention group (n = 21) or control group (n = 11). The intervention group completed a 12-week combined exercise plus diet program, consisting of weekly aerobic training and maintaining a nutritionally well-balanced 1,200 kcal/d diet. The control group were instructed to continue with their usual activities. Anthropometric indices, VO2peak and QoL were measured at baseline and after the 12-week program. VO2peak was assessed using an Okura protocol (Okura. 1999). Results All of the 21 women completed the 12-week program. The VO2peak increased from 26.7 to 30.4 mL/kg/min (1.57 to 1.62 L/min) in the intervention group, while it remained unchanged (26.6 to 26.7 mL/kg/min) in the control group. Significant improvements were observed in VO2peak, and QoL in the intervention group (P <. 001), while they remained essentially unchanged among the control group. Mean weight loss was 8.7% of the initial weight in the intervention group (P <. 001) and 0.1% in the control group. No adverse events were reported in the intervention group. Conclusions Our combined exercise plus diet program may contribute to improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness, QoL, and body weight compared with control group. Importantly, cardiorespiratory fitness has been improved by as much as 15 % after three months. Further studies are needed to consider that what kind of aerobic exercise is best to improve cardiorespiratory fitness among Asian breast cancer patients. Citation Format: Okumatsu K, Tsujimoto T, Seki A, Kotake R, Yamauchi T, Yamauchi H, Tanaka K. Effects of a combined exercise plus diet intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness among Japanese women with breast cancer: A feasibility study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2017 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P6-11-04.

e21658 Background: Weight gain, deterioration of physical fitness, and cancer-related fatigue often occur in the breast cancer patients mainly due to endocrine therapy. A number of previous studies have reported that obesity increases the risk of breast cancer recurrence and death, while exercise habituation improves physical fitness and fatigue among breast cancer patients. However, almost all studies have been conducted in the Western community and there are few studies focused on Asian women who may have lower BMI compared with the Western ones. Therefore, we investigated whether a combined diet plus exercise program affects weight loss, physical fitness and fatigue indices among Japanese breast cancer patients undergoing endocrine therapies. Methods: Thirty-two Japanese women with breast cancer undergoing endocrine therapy (age; 50±6 years, body weight; 57±10 kg) were voluntarily assigned to either intervention group (n = 21) or control group (n = 11). The intervention group completed a 12-week combined diet plus exercise program, consisting of weekly diet instruction classes aimed at maintaining a nutritionally well-balanced 1,200 kcal/d diet and a weekly 90-min exercise session. Anthropometric indices, physical fitness, blood sample and cancer-related fatigue were measured at baseline and after the 12-week program. Results: All of the 21 women completed the 12-week program. Mean weight loss was 8.7% of the initial weight in the intervention group and 0.1% in the control group ( P < . 001). Significant improvements were observed in cardiorespiratory fitness ( P < .01), flexibility ( P < .01) and agility ( P < .01) in the intervention group. Cancer related-fatigue scores decreased by 7.9 points (39%) among the intervention group ( P < .001), while it remained essentially unchanged among the control group. No adverse events were reported in the intervention group. Conclusions: A combined diet plus exercise program may contribute to a decrease in body weight and improvement in physical fitness and cancer-related fatigue. Further study is needed to help reduce side effects due to endocrine therapy and enhance quality of life among Asian breast cancer patients. Clinical trial information: UMIN000025890.