Effects of aerobic exercise on late effects and quality of life in long-term breast cancer survivors: a randomized controlled trial
Abstract
Background: Breast cancer survivors (BCSs) are at increased risk of late effects. While research has reported positive effects of exercise therapy on fatigue and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among short-term BCSs, evidence in long-term survivors remains scarce.
Methods: The CAUSE (CArdiovascUlar Survivors Exercise) trial was a 2-armed randomized controlled trial. Long-term BCSs were assigned to 5 months of thrice-weekly supervised aerobic exercise or usual care. Late effects and HRQoL were assessed by Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-BR23 and QLQ-C30 questionnaires, and Scale for Chemotherapy-Induced Long-term Neurotoxicity at baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1), and 1-year follow-up (T2).
Results: In total, 140 BCSs (mean age 59.0 ± 6.4 years, 11 ± 1 years post-treatment) were included. Loss to follow-up at T1 was 6% and 19% in the exercise- and usual care group, respectively. From T0 to T1, the exercise group significantly improved total fatigue (between groups mean difference [MD] = -3.0, P < .001), body image (MD = 6.7, P = .043), physical- (MD = 3.2, P ≤ .001), role- (MD = 9.6, P = .019), and cognitive function (MD = 3.4, P = .038), insomnia (MD = -9.0, P = .017), and global health/QoL (MD = 5.3, P ≤ .001) compared to usual care. The exercise benefits were more pronounced in BCSs experiencing versus not experiencing late effects at baseline. At 1-year follow-up, most improvements regressed toward…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design.
Read the paper
Related studies
- A Coupled SYSTEM of Intracellular Ca 2+ Clocks and Surface Membrane Voltage Clocks Controls the Timekeeping Mechanism of the Heart’s Pacemaker
- A Comprehensive Review on the Therapeutic Potential of Curcuma longa Linn. in Relation to its Major Active Constituent Curcumin
- Cancer epigenetics: Moving forward
- Current developments in LC-MS for pharmaceutical analysis
- Myricetin: A comprehensive review on its biological potentials
- A Computational Systems Biology Software Platform for Multiscale Modeling and Simulation: Integrating Whole-Body Physiology, Disease Biology, and Molecular Reaction Networks
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.