Breast Cancer Quality of Life(QOL)

Weight training improves quality of life (QOL) in breast cancer survivors, according to the results of a randomized trial reported in the March 27 Early View issue of Cancer.
"Aerobic exercise training has been shown to have beneficial effects on QOL in breast cancer survivors," write Tetsuya Ohira, MD, from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and colleagues from the Weight Training for Breast Cancer Survivors (WTBS) Study. "However, the effects of weight training on psychological benefits are unknown.... There is the potential that for breast cancer survivors, weight training might increase a sense of control over their lives during the 'watchful waiting' time frame between the end of active treatment and the 5-year mark post-diagnosis (e.g., psychological empowerment via physical strength increases)."

Aerobic exercise has been demonstrated to improve a variety of outcomes among women who survive breast cancer, from fatigue to depression and QOL. An analysis of the Nurses' Health Study by Holmes and colleagues, which was published in the May 25, 2005, issue of JAMA, examined the risk for mortality associated with various levels of physical activity among breast cancer survivors. The authors found that walking 3 to 5 hours per week at an average pace could significantly reduce the risk for all-cause mortality compared with walking less than 3 hours per week. There was little additional survival benefit for more intense exercise regimens.