The effects of aerobic exercise and resistance training

on stage I and II breast cancer survivors

by Dr. Dena Garner, Dept of HESS

Cancer patients typically display a loss of physical performance, decreased bone mass, and weight gain during remission, thereby placing them at risk for diseases and conditions related to lack of physical activity. For cancer survivors, the effects of these sedentary behaviors on physiological parameters such as body fat percentage, maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 Max), body mass index, and bone mass density is an area of growing research interest.

PURPOSE: To analyze the effects of moderate to vigorous physical activity programs, integrating aerobic exercise and resistance training, on body fat percentage, maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 Max), body mass index, and bone mass density of stage I-II breast cancer survivors. METHODS: Eleven stage I and II breast cancer patients, 40-65 years old, were recruited to participate in this study. Maximal oxygen consumption (via

True Max 2400 Metabolic Measurement System ®), bone mass density (via 4500

Hologic DEXA ® Bone Density Scanner), and weight and percentage of body fat (via

BOD POD ®), were measured pre and post an 8 week supervised exercise intervention.

Aerobic exercise consisted of having subjects utilize elliptical trainers and running and/or walking at an incline on a treadmill for 20-30 minutes per session 3 days per week, while resistance training consisted of 2 sets of 12-15 repetitions using free weights and nautilus equipment. During the last 6 weeks of the study, W4L Elite 5 Function Pedometers®

(Walk4Life, Plainfield, IL) were used to calculate the daily number of steps. RESULTS: Supervised exercise significantly improved aerobic capacity (+4.227 ml/kg/min;

P=0.004) and increased, though not significantly, bone mass densities of hip (+0.433 SD units; P=0.061) and spine (+0.224 SD units; P=0.350) of breast cancer subjects. No significant differences were observed for changes in body mass index (+0.0196 kg/m2;

P=0.927) or percentage of body fat (-0.737%; P=0.639). Mean pedometer step count significantly increased from week 3 (8443.01) to week 8 (9283.01) of the study

(P=0.001). CONCULSION: Moderate to vigorous physical activity, both aerobic and resistance training may be an effective and well-tolerated behavioral intervention for improving aerobic capacity and increasing bone mass density of breast cancer survivors.