A diagnosis of breast cancer can seem fatal, but it does not have to be. To date little evidence for lifestyle modifications as preventative means have been found for breast cancer. Now a study to be released next month in the journal Cancer finds that women with active lifestyles prior to diagnosis with breast cancer have improved survival compared to women who are less active.
The study was conducted in conjuction with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and involved more than 1,200 women diagnosed with various stages of breast cancer. The women were between the ages of 20 and 54. Median follow up was 8-10 years and during that time about twenty three percent of women died.
At enrollment each of the women were questioned about their lifetime physical activity. Women were asked to rate the level of exercise at age 13, 20, and in the 12 months prior to diagnosis with breast cancer. Most important to the researchers was the amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity which has the greatest benefit on overall health.
After adjusting for variables such as staging and treatment access, women with the lowest amount of physical activity one year prior to diagnosis had the lowest survival rates. When weight was taken into account, women who were overweight or obese at diagnosis, but had greater levels of physical activity, had the greatest chance of survival.
Overall, physical activity in the year prior to diagnosis made a significant difference in breast cancer survival. Women with the highest amount of exercise had an twenty two percent increased chance of surviving compared to women who exercised the least. The effect was as much as a thirty percent increase in surviving if the women were overweight or obese at time of diagnosis.
There was no effect on survival due to physical activity at age 13 or age 20. Being underweight or at the recommended weight did not effect the survival rates in any case either.
This is a great stride for women in terms of lifestyle factors that can help improve survival from breast cancer. Research in the last decade has helped to improve survival just as increased monitoring and earlier detection. But this information gives women something that they can do for themselves, and another reason to exercise every day.
Posted by Dr. Christina Gutierrez on September 15, 2006 11:02 AM
