Impact of obesity, lifestyle factors and health interventions on breast cancer survivors

A contemporary review of breast cancer risk factors and the role of artificial intelligence

Background

Breast cancer continues to be a significant global health issue, necessitating advancements in prevention and early detection strategies. This review aims to assess and synthesize research conducted from 2020 to the present, focusing on breast cancer risk factors, including genetic, lifestyle, and environmental aspects, as well as the innovative role of artificial intelligence (AI) in prediction and diagnostics.

Methods

A comprehensive literature search, covering studies from 2020 to the present, was conducted to evaluate the diversity of breast cancer risk factors and the latest advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in this field. The review prioritized high-quality peer-reviewed research articles and meta-analyses.

Results

Our analysis reveals a complex interplay of genetic, lifestyle, and environmental risk factors for breast cancer, with significant variability across different populations. Furthermore, AI has emerged as a promising tool in enhancing the accuracy of breast cancer risk prediction and the personalization of prevention strategies.

Conclusion

The review highlights the necessity for personalized breast cancer prevention and detection approaches that account for individual risk factor profiles. It underscores the potential of AI to revolutionize these strategies, offering clear recommendations for future research directions and clinical practice improvements.

An Integrated Care Approach to Improve Well-Being in Breast Cancer Patients

BACKGROUND

Breast cancer (BC) treatment has recently been revolutionized by the introduction of newer targeted agents, that helped tailoring therapies around the single patient. Along with increased survival rates, a careful evaluation of diet, lifestyle habits, physical activity, emotional and psychological experiences linked to the treatment journey, is now mandatory. However, a true proposal for an omnicomprehensive and "integrative" approach is still lacking in literature.

METHODS

A scientific board of internationally recognized specialists throughout different disciplines designed a shared proposal of holistic approach for BC patients.

RESULTS

A narrative review, containing information on BC treatment, endocrinological and diet aspects, physical activity, rehabilitation, integrative medicine, and digital narrative medicine, was developed.

CONCLUSIONS

In the context of a patient-centered care, BC treatment cannot be separated from a patient's long-term follow-up and care, and an organized interdisciplinary collaboration is the future in this disease's cure, to make sure that our patients will live longer and better.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

NCT05893368: New Model for Integrating Person-based Care (PbC) in the Treatment of Advanced HER2-negative Breast Cancer (PERGIQUAL). Registration date: 29th May 2023.

Latent classes of health-promoting lifestyle in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in China: A cross-sectional survey

AIM

To identify the latent classes of a health-promoting lifestyle and examine the associations of latent class profile with individual characteristics of breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy in China in order to provide some insights and recommendations for targeted and individualized health education of health-promoting lifestyle.

DESIGN

A descriptive cross-sectional survey design was used for this work.

METHODS

A total of 197 patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy recruited from the Breast Cancer Outpatient Chemotherapy Clinic of a Grade 3A hospital were surveyed. Health-promoting lifestyle was measured using the Health Promotion Lifestyle Profile-II: Chinese Version Short (HPLP-IICR). Latent class analysis was used to examine respondents' health-promoting lifestyle patterns. Associations between the latent class membership and individual characteristics were examined using multinomial logistic regression.

RESULTS

Four latent classes were identified: Class 1-Good Nutrition and Poor Physical Activity, Class 2-Poor Health Responsibility and Nutrition, Class 3-Active Health-Promoting Lifestyle, and Class 4-Medium Spiritual Growth and Poor Other Dimensions. Younger respondents and respondents with a higher score in anxiety and depression were more likely to be classified in Class 4 rather than Class 1 or 3. Respondents with low exercise self-efficacy were more likely to be classified in Class 4 than the others. Respondents in Class 4 had more chemotherapy symptom severity and interference, and cases of menopause were fewer in Class 4 rather than Class 3. Those in Class 4 were more likely to have been diagnosed with cancer within 3 months than those in Class 1.

Causal relationship between dietary factors and breast cancer risk: A Mendelian randomization study

Background

Previous studies have discovered an association between dietary factors and breast cancer. However, few studies have used Mendelian randomization (MR) to assess the potential causal relationship between dietary factors and breast cancer.

Methods

The exposure datasets for fresh fruit intake, dried fruit intake, salad/raw vegetable intake, cooked vegetable intake, oily fish intake, non-oily fish intake, cheese intake, and bread intake were obtained from the UK Biobank. The outcome dataset was extracted from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC). We used the inverse variance weighted (IVW) method as the primary approach for the two-sample MR analysis. To ensure the accuracy of the results, we conducted heterogeneity and horizontal pleiotropy analyses. Additionally, multivariable MR analysis was conducted to ensure the stability of the results.

Results

Dried fruit intake was found to be a protective factor for overall breast cancer (outliers excluded: OR: 0.549; 95 % CI: 0.429-0.702; p = 1.75 × 10-6). Subtype analyses showed that dried fruit intake was inversely associated with both estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer (outliers excluded: OR: 0.669; 95 % CI: 0.512-0.875; p = 0.003) and ER-negative (ER-) breast cancer (OR: 0.559; 95 % CI: 0.379-0.827; p = 0.004), while fresh fruit intake was inversely associated with ER- breast cancer (excluded outliers: OR: 0.510; 95 % CI: 0.308-0.846; p = 0.009). No significant causal relationship was found between other dietary intakes and breast cancer. After adjusting for the effects of possible confounders, the causal relationships found by the two-sample MR analysis remained.

Conclusion

Our study provides evidence that dried fruit intake may reduce the risk of both ER+ and ER- breast cancer, and fresh fruit intake may reduce the risk of ER- breast cancer. Other factors included in this study were not linked to breast cancer.

The Breaking Point and Post-Traumatic Growth in Breast Cancer Survivors

Advancements in breast cancer survival rates make the issues of quality of life and psycho-physical wellbeing in survivors central goals of comprehensive care [...].