Behavioural Changes in Breast Cancer Patients

Exercise training has been established as a feasible and safe intervention during or after neoplastic treatment in breast cancer patients. Numerous studies have shown that exercise can prevent and control various treatment-related side effects including functional limitation, physical capacity, anxiety and sleep disturbance. In the long-term, an active life style has been demonstrated to increase survival in women, who maintain a moderate level of exercise per week (30 or 75 minutes of brisk walking 5 days per week). Specifically, active breast cancer survivors have a 51-85% lower cancer specific mortality and 33-82% lower all cause of mortality. But despite this, most breast cancer patients reduce their physical activity levels during and after cancer treatment. In 2010, a roundtable meeting of American College of Sport Medicine published guidelines for cancer survivors, defining that the recommended amount of exercise was 150 minutes per week of aerobic exercise of moderate-intensity and 2 or 3 days per week of strength training that included exercise for major muscle groups. But only 30-47% of breast cancer survivors follow these exercise recommendations. In most clinical settings, information by the oncologist to keep physical active is part of the recommendation. Yet some breast cancer patients find it difficult to begin or maintain the minimal activity levels recommended by the experts. A typical obstacle includes lack of directions from experts, which can assure the safety and feasibility of the exercise that they perform. Moreover, important personal aspects can have major influence on the exercise preference, including certain food choice and dietary intakes, education level or the preference of a face-to-face exercise counseling by a professional. A cancer diagnosis is recognized as \"teachable moment\", where patients are particularly motivated for lifestyle changes. So it is important to approach the patients with adequate interventions that consider the different needs in order to get a healthier behavior among the breast cancer patients. Taking this into account, the hypothesis of this pilot project is that a guided integrated group exercise program, which includes an educational program on healthy life style, will increase the adherence of breast cancer survivors to exercise and a healthy diet. Therefore the aim of this pilot study was to investigate if a comprehensive and specific group exercise program, which includes dietary and exercise information, could increase leisure-time exercise in women with breast cancer.