Research Documents Benefits of Regular Exercise for Women with Breast Cancer
A growing body of research supports the benefits of exercise during and following treatment for breast cancer, and for reducing both the risk of recurrence and the risk of developing breast cancer overall. Following are links to press releases of peer-reviewed, published studies supporting a role for regular exercise in breast cancer. These studies can be found on the US National Library of Medicine’s PubMed website, along with other peer-reviewed studies that can be accessed by searching on “breast cancer exercise.”
For survivors:
“Women with breast cancer who follow a physical exercise program during their chemotherapy treatment experience less side effects like fatigue, reduced physical fitness, nausea and pain. It is also less often necessary to adjust the dosage of their chemotherapy…” http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-04/nci-peh042415.php
“Physical activity after breast cancer diagnosis has been linked with prolonged survival and improved quality of life, but most participants in a large breast cancer study did not meet national physical activity guidelines after they were diagnosed,” according to this study. “Moreover, African-American women were less likely to meet the guidelines than white women”... http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-06/w-mbc060514.php
“Telephone-based counseling, when combined with physician advice, can help breast cancer survivors become more physically active, which can improve quality of life and lessen the side effects of cancer treatment”… http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/l-tcp061113.php
“Breast cancer survivors are among the women who could most benefit from regular physical activity, yet few meet national exercise recommendations during the 10 years after being diagnosed”… http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/fhcr-fbc041713.php
“Aerobic exercise can help relieve the fatigue often associated with cancer and cancer treatment”... http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-11/w-cer110912.php
"This is the first study of a group of breast cancer survivors that's focused specifically on physical activity and fitness—how much exercise, the type of exercise, the pattern of exercise—that might be linked to risk of recurrence and survival…" http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-08/uoa-eeb082812.php
"Fitness level may be an important biomarker of survival among cancer patients…But the beautiful thing about fitness is that we can improve it with exercise training...” http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-05/dumc-cfl052312.php
“The benefits of exercise outweigh the risks for breast cancer survivors and patients with lymphedema”… http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/uom-mrr120111.php
“Post-menopausal women who engage in moderate to vigorous exercise have a reduced risk of breast cancer”… http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-09/bc-rve092909.php
“Two studies report that exercise and yoga can help maintain and in some cases improve quality of life in women with early-stage breast cancer. The first study found that resistance and aerobic exercise improved physical fitness, self-esteem and body composition, and that resistance exercise improved chemotherapy completion rates. The second study demonstrated that yoga was particularly beneficial for women who were not receiving chemotherapy during the study period”…
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-09/asoc-eay090407.php
“Simple steps—like giving breast cancer survivors an exercise workbook or step pedometer—along with a prescription to exercise, can improve their quality of life and fatigue levels”… http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-06/uoa-ssm061307.php
For prevention:
“Women who exercised vigorously for seven or more hours each week were 25 percent less likely to develop breast cancer, compared to those who exercised less than one hour each week. Examples of vigorous activity include basketball, swimming, running and aerobics. The results were similar if women walked briskly, but there was no benefit for walking at normal pace.” ... http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-08/bumc-eaw081314.php
Engaging in regular physical activity for more than an hour day “reduces the risk of contracting breast cancer, and this applies to women of any age and any weight, and also is unaffected by geographical location… Compared with the least active women, those with the highest level of physical activity reduced their risk of breast cancer by 12%.”... http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-03/eeco-rpa031914.php
“Vigorous exercise of more than two hours per week reduces the risk of developing breast cancer in postmenopausal African-American women by 64 percent”…
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-10/aafc-ver092810.php
“Girls and young women who exercise regularly between the ages of 12 and 35 have a substantially lower risk of breast cancer before menopause compared to those who are less active”… http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/wuso-gyw050908.php