Adjunctive Inspiratory Muscle Training During a Rehabilitation Program in Patients With Breast Cancer: An Exploratory Double-Blind, Randomized, Controlled Pilot Study

Using Inspiratory Muscle Training to Improve Respiratory Strength, Functional Capacity, Fatigue, and Stress in Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Surgery

“…Our findings are in agreement with the study done by Dahhak et al, who investigated the effect of inspiratory muscle training (IMT) on breast cancer women, which showed improvements in inspiratory muscle power, and no difference between the groups was detected in terms of 6MWT; in addition, grip strength showed no change. 17 There are a few differences between their study and ours. For instance, we used IMT (gradually increased intensity according to patient tolerance) combined with aerobic training for the study group versus aerobic training only for the control group, while Dahhak used IMT for both study groups with different intensities plus strength training.…”

“…The estimation of the sample size was based on the maximum inspiratory pressure (Pimax) mean and standard deviations retrieved from previous studies. 17 , 18 Using G-power software (3.1.9.7; Heinrich-Heine-Universität Dusseldorf, Dusseldorf, Germany), 48 participants (24 per group) were deemed appropriate to achieve an effect size of 0.241 when the power was 80%, the α was 0.05, and the allocation ratio was 1:1. A total of 53 were recruited to compensate for any dropouts.…”

Potential Therapeutic Role of Respiratory Muscle Training in Dyspnea Management of Cancer Survivors: A Narrative Review

“…Both Baseline Dyspnea Index (+1.2 units) and Transitional Dyspnea Index (+5.1 units) were significantly improved following the RMT intervention [ 10 ]. A small randomized controlled pilot study has shown that an addition of RMT to standard 12-week exercise training improved dyspnea in daily life (Transitional Dyspnea Index +2.9 points) among 19 breast cancer survivors [ 11 ]. A randomized controlled study of 40 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer undergoing lobectomy has shown significant improvement in dyspnea following 3 weeks of preoperative pulmonary rehabilitation combined with breathing exercises but not specifically RMT [ 12 ].…”

“…Moreover, obesity, low CRF and physical inactivity are highly prevalent among cancer survivors [59], factors that further exacerbate dyspnea [6]. While only preliminary data exist on the efficacy of RMT among cancer survivors [10][11][12][13], robust evidence in healthy and diseased populations has demonstrated the efficacy of RMT to increase inspiratory muscle strength and reduce dyspnea [19, 45-47, 49, 51]. Achieving higher strength and endurance of respiratory muscles with RMT can improve the fatigability resilience of these muscles, decrease the relative mechanical effort of breathing and reduce the perception of dyspnea (Fig.…”

“…This is possibly due to insufficient evidence, and the fact that supervised exercise therapy/pulmonary rehabilitation is not a standard of care for patients with cancer [2]. While preliminary findings of respiratory muscle training (RMT) are encouraging with potential benefits in alleviating dyspnea among cancer survivors [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17], the evidence of RMT efficacy for reducing dyspnea is still premature and large randomized controlled trials of RMT in cancer survivors are warranted. Given the preva- lence of dyspnea in cancer survivors, its detrimental effects on physical function and quality of life, its association with poor survival while effective treatments are limited [1,2,6], exploring other potentially effective therapies has important clinical implications for symptoms management in cancer survivorship.…”