No abstract

The soy beverage did not alleviate hot flashes in women with breast cancer any more than did a placebo. Future research into other compounds is recommended to identify safe and effective therapies for hot flashes in breast cancer survivors.

The soy beverage did not alleviate hot flashes in women with breast cancer any more than did a placebo. Future research into other compounds is recommended to identify safe and effective therapies for hot flashes in breast cancer survivors.

Despite evidence that exercise is both safe and efficacious at improving physical fitness, quality of life, and treatment side effects for individuals with cancer, lifestyle programming is not offered as standard of cancer care. This study describes an oncologist-referred, evidence-based exercise and healthy eating program offered in collaboration with a university as supportive care to women with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy. The program was well received by oncologists and patients, safe, and relatively inexpensive to operate. Importantly, there was a significant positive impact on physical activity levels and health-related quality of life lasting for 2 years after initiation of therapy.

Adherence to supervised exercise delivered in a real-world clinical setting varies among breast cancer patients and across the treatment trajectory. Behavioral strategies and individualization in exercise prescriptions to improve adherence are especially important for later chemotherapy cycles, after treatment, and for resistance exercise.

Demographic variables, QoL, and receipt of a second surgery significantly predicted attendance throughout the NExT supervised exercise program. These results may help identify individuals with exercise adherence challenges and improve the design of future interventions, including optimizing the timing of program delivery.

A limited number of randomized controlled trials were identified in which diet and dietary supplement interventions appeared to slow disease progression in men with prostate cancer, although results vary. Studies were limited by reliance on the surrogate biomarker prostate specific antigen, sample size and study duration. Well designed trials are warranted to expand knowledge, replicate findings and further assess the impact of diet and dietary supplement interventions on recurrence and treatment associated morbidities.

Background: Available preliminary evidence is conflicting on whether exercise can positively influence antineoplastic treatment tolerance and in turn improve survival. Patients and Methods: This study compared chemotherapy treatment tolerance and survival among women receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer who participated in a single-arm trial of supervised aerobic and resistance exercise programming versus a historical cohort that did not receive structured exercise programming. Results: The exercise group (EX; n=73) and control group (CTR; n=85) participants were matched on age and treatment and balanced on medical history, cancer diagnosis, and body mass index. Attendance in the EX group was 64% ± 27% of 3 offered sessions per week. For all chemotherapy agents combined, the relative risk (RR) of a chemotherapy dose reduction (RR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.54–1.11) or delay (RR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.62–1.80) did not differ between groups. However, the EX group had reduced relative and absolute risks of a dose reduction in doxorubicin by 60% and 18%, respectively. For all agents combined, there were no differences between groups in risk of anemia, neutropenia, or weight gain. In the EX group, dose reductions due to neutropenia (P=.027), other infections (P=.049), and fatigue (P=.037) were less common, whereas mucositis was more common (P=.023), compared with the CTR group. The EX group had reduced relative and absolute risks of weight gain on the docetaxel + cyclophosphamide regimen by 38% and 30%, respectively. After a median follow-up of 70 months (range, 54–84 months), there was no difference between the EX and CTR groups in disease-free survival events (n=8 [11%] vs n=9 [11%], respectively; log-rank test, P=.78) or overall survival events (n=5 [7%] vs n=6 [7%], respectively; log-rank test, P=.974). Conclusions: Overall, exercise programming during adjuvant chemotherapy does not appear to impact treatment tolerance or survival in women receiving common modern regimens of adjuvant chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer. However, exercise may provide selective benefits, depending on the treatment regimen received.