Physical activity and breast cancer survival
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* Corresponding author: Michelle D Holmes michelle.holmes@channing.harvard.edu
1 Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA
2 Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Breast Cancer Research 2009, 11:106 doi:10.1186/bcr2351
Published: 1 September 2009Abstract
Physical activity improves quality of life after a breast cancer diagnosis, and a beneficial effect on survival would be particularly welcome. Four observational studies have now reported decreased total mortality among physically active women with breast cancer; the two largest have also reported decreased breast cancer specific mortality. The estrogen pathway and the insulin pathway are two potential mechanisms by which physical activity could affect breast cancer survival. Randomized trials are ongoing but trials of lifestyle factors are notoriously challenging to perform. Women with breast cancer have little to lose and may possibly gain from moderate exercise.