Twenty-five years of research on the effects of exercise training in breast cancer survivors: A systematic review of the literature

Upper extremity bioimpedance before and after treadmill testing in women post breast cancer treatment

Research on the effect of cardiorespiratory (CR) exercise on upper extremity (UE) limb volume is limited in women with breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL). The aim of this study was to compare changes in UE volume immediately following a symptom-limited CR treadmill test in women with and without BCRL. As part of a cross-sectional study, 133 women post unilateral BC treatment completed symptom-limited treadmill testing. Bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) was used to measure UE resistance before and immediately following treadmill testing. Resistance ratios >1 (unaffected side/affected side) indicate greater volume in the affected limb. T-tests and repeated measures ANOVA were performed to evaluate differences between and within groups. Mean age was 56.2 years (SD 9.4); BMI was 26.13 kg m(-2) (SD 5.04). For women with previously diagnosed BCRL (n = 63), the resistance ratio was 1.116 (SD 0.160) pre-treadmill and 1.108 (SD 0.155) post-treadmill. For women without BCRL (n = 70), the resistance ratio was 0.990 (SD 0.041) pre-treadmill and 1.001 (SD 0.044) post-treadmill. Resistance ratios for women with BCRL were higher than those for women without BCRL at both time points (main effect of group: p < 0.001). No main effects were found for time (p = 0.695). A statistically significant effect was found for the time-by-group interaction (p = 0.002). 78% of the women with BCRL wore a compression garment during testing. Following testing, the women with BCRL demonstrated a non-statistically significant decrease in the resistance ratio, suggesting an immediate decrease in interlimb volume difference. The women without BCRL demonstrated an increase in the resistance ratio.

A randomized trial comparing live and telemedicine deliveries of an imagery-based behavioral intervention for breast cancer survivors: reducing symptoms and barriers to care

OBJECTIVE

This multi-site randomized trial evaluates the quality of life (QOL) benefits of an imagery-based group intervention titled 'Envision the Rhythms of Life'(ERL).

METHODS

Breast cancer survivors >6 weeks post-treatment were randomized to attend five weekly 4-h group sessions at a community center with therapist present (live delivery (LD), n = 48), therapist streamed via telemedicine (telemedicine delivery (TD), n = 23), or to a waitlist control (WL) group (n = 47). Weekly individual phone calls to encourage at-home practice began at session one and continued until the 3-month follow-up. Seven self-report measures of QOL were examined at baseline, 1-month and 3-month post-treatments including health-related and breast cancer-specific QOL, fatigue, cognitive function, spirituality, distress, and sleep.

RESULTS

The Bonferroni method was used to correct for multiple comparisons, and alpha was adjusted to 0.01. Linear multilevel modeling analyses revealed less fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, and sleep disturbance for LD and TD compared with WL across the follow-up (p's < 0.01). Changes in fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, sleep disturbance, and health-related and breast cancer-related QOL were clinically significant. There were no differences between LD and TD.

CONCLUSIONS

Both the live and telemedicine delivered ERL intervention resulted in improvements in multiple QOL domains for breast cancer survivors compared with WL. Further, there were no significant differences between LD and TD, suggesting telemedicine delivered ERL intervention may represent an effective and viable option for cancer survivors in remote areas.