Relationship of exercise to fatigue and quality of life in women with breast cancer

Seventy-eight women with breast cancer have been entered in the study. All subjects received instruction to follow an eight-week, home-based exercise program. Two new analyses have been conducted. The first examined the effect of exercise on body weight in 78 subjects. Women who adhered to the exercise program maintained their body weight, while nonexercisers steadily gained weight (p<.05). The second analysis examined the daily pattern of fatigue over the first three cycles of chemotherapy. Women who adopted exercise experienced significantly fewer days of fatigue above their baseline and more days of fatigue below baseline. Women who did not exercise experienced more days of high fatigue and fewer days of low fatigue. Findings from both analyses support exercise as a positive intervention for women with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy. A clinical paradigm change may be evolving as preliminary evidence mounts in support of exercise as an intervention to minimize weight gain, reduce fatigue, improve functional ability, mood and diseases of disuse that often accompany cancer treatment. This research indicates that exercise may be important to help maintain functional ability, reduce fatigue, maintain body weight and improve quality of life during breast cancer treatment.