Yoga, exercise help breast cancer women feel good
American Society of Clinical Oncology release - 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.
In the first study, Canadian investigators explored the effects of exercise on quality of life, physical fitness and body composition in women receiving chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer. This study, the Supervised Trial of Aerobic versus Resistance Training (START) trial, is the largest to date to explore the effects of exercise during chemotherapy and one of the first to evaluate a regimen of resistance exercise.
Researchers divided women into three groups: supervised resistance exercise three times weekly (82 women), supervised aerobic exercise three times weekly (78), and no aerobic or resistance exercise, also known as the “usual care” group (82). The median duration of chemotherapy and exercise was 17 weeks. Participants were surveyed at the beginning and middle of chemotherapy and up to four weeks after completing treatment.
They found that resistance exercise was better than usual care for improving muscle strength, lean body mass and self-esteem. Aerobic exercise was better than usual care for improving aerobic fitness, self-esteem and body fat percentage. Exercise did not cause lymphedema or other adverse side effects.
“Breast cancer patients can exercise while they’re receiving chemotherapy and achieve meaningful benefits in terms of physical fitness, body composition and self-esteem,” said lead author Kerry Courneya, PhD, professor and Canada research chair in physical activity and cancer at the University of Alberta.
Unexpectedly, the study found that women in the resistance exercise group had the best chemotherapy completion rate. The percentage of women who received 85% or more of their recommended chemotherapy dose was 78% in the resistance exercise group, 74.4% in the aerobic exercise group and 65.9% in the usual care group. Although it is unclear why exercise may improve chemotherapy completion rates, the authors speculate that exercise may cause an increase in white blood cell counts, which could allow chemotherapy treatments to continue on schedule. The authors caution that this finding should be replicated before it is considered reliable.
In the second study, researchers compared various quality of life measures between 84 women with early-stage breast cancer who took a weekly yoga class for 12 weeks and 44 women who did not take yoga. This was the first study to evaluate the benefits of yoga in an ethnically diverse population of women with breast cancer (primarily Hispanic and African-American women). About half of the women received chemotherapy or radiation therapy during the study period, the remainder had either already completed treatment or not required it. Overall, the women had lower than average levels of quality of life at the beginning of the study.
“Yoga can promote better quality of life for women with breast cancer by helping them connect with others and feel calmer,” said lead author Alyson Moadel, PhD, assistant professor in the department of epidemiology and population health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. “Because yoga was well-received by all cultural and socioeconomic groups, it has the potential to help many women with early-stage breast cancer.”
Among all women in the study, those who did not take yoga reported a drop in social well-being scores (a measure of perceived support from and closeness with others) compared with those who took yoga. All other measures (physical, functional, emotional and spiritual well-being; fatigue; anxiety/sadness; irritability; and confusion) did not differ significantly between the groups. As expected, the benefits of yoga were greater in women who adhered to the prescribed regimen and took more classes.
However, among women not undergoing chemotherapy, those taking yoga reported improved overall quality of life as well as better emotional well-being and mood compared with those not taking yoga, who experienced declines in quality of life, mood, and social and spiritual well-being.
“Given the physical and emotional challenges for women undergoing chemotherapy, they may need more yoga to experience these quality of life benefits,” explained Dr. Moadel. “If attending frequent classes isn’t feasible, women should consider using videotapes at home or doing breathing exercises while they receive treatment.”
In an editorial accompanying both studies, Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, PhD, RD, LDN, of the school of nursing and department of surgery at Duke University Medical Center, writes “These results suggest that the timing of lifestyle interventions may be key if [quality of life] is the primary outcome. They point to the challenges in developing effective interventions that must overcome the host of barriers in patients who are under active treatment. Behavioral interventions that are instituted in these patients come during a period when patients are saddled with competing time constraints and also when their emotional and physical energies are being drained. However, such interventions also may demonstrate their greatest impact during this time of treatment.”
Both studies and the accopanying editorial were published online September 4 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO).
“Effects of Aerobic and Resistance Exercise in Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Adjuvant Chemotherapy: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.” Kerry S. Courneya, et al, University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada.
“Randomized Controlled Trial of Yoga Among a Multiethnic Sample of Breast Cancer Patients: Effects on Quality of Life.” Alyson B. Moadel, et al, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY.
“Move Onward, Press Forward, and Take a Deep Breath: Can Lifestyle Interventions Improve the Quality of Life of Women With Breast Cancer, and How Can We Be Sure?” Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC.
Tags: cancer, exercise, women, yoga
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This is good info, thanks!
thank you. glad you like it. come back soon.
I really do agree with this exercise as part of the treatment concept. I have been monitoring a breast cancer survivor support group in my home town for a few years now which has a focus on support emtionally and regular physical exercise and the results are definitely apparent. As part of the group support some double blind trials have been completed on an immuno enhancement combination therapy which your readers may find of interest. There are some details on http://www.mc-s.com.au which includes published science on the topic but the results from this particular trial have not been published yet.
Practicing yoga 2 hours a day centers and enables me to gain a fresh look on life and reality. Yoga is easier to practice daily once you have a partner to practice with.
Yoga has so many healthy benefits.
It’s great to learn that it is now helping women with breast cancer too.
Very imformative and intresting post!