【論文摘要】Effect of Early Exercise Intervention on Physical Fitness in Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

Background and Purpose: Deterioration of body composition, flexibility, and muscle strength observed in breast cancer survivors may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and poor prognosis. Previous studies have shown that exercise could improve physical fitness after cancer treatments. However, exercise intervention was only suggested after whole treatments for cancer instead of the time early during chemotherapy. Therefore, our study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of early exercise intervention during chemotherapy on physical fitness in breast cancer. Methods: This randomized control trial enrolled primary breast cancer patients. Participants were randomly allocated to control group under usual cancer care or exercise training group that received 24 sessions of program combined with aerobic, resistance, and flexibility training. The primary outcomes were hemodynamic responses of 3-min-step test. The secondary outcomes involved body composition, flexibility, muscle strength, attendance, and adherence to exercise intervention. All the outcome variables were evaluated at baseline, 1.5 months, 3 months and 6 months after starting chemotherapy. Results: A total of 32 breast cancer patients were analyzed. The results of 3-min-step test, flexibility, and muscle strength were found no intragroup nor intergroup differences. Body weight gain was found in both groups. Whole body fat, visceral fat, and skeletal muscle rate significant deteriorated in control group. The average attendance was 82.9% and the adherence to the exercise intensity was 76.5%. Conclusion: There was no significant improvement in the response of 3-min-step test, flexibility, and muscle strength in breast cancer patients after early exercise intervention. However, because of the high attendance and adherence, early exercise intervention during chemotherapy may be a feasible strategy in breast cancer. Clinical Relevance: Early exercise intervention is feasible but may not with improvement on physical fitness in breast cancer during chemotherapy.