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Is more exercise better for breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy?


September 10, 2014

Dr. Roanne Segal has published results from a clinical trial in the British Journal of Cancer that examined how much exercise is beneficial to breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. In the study, women scheduled to undergo chemotherapy for breast cancer were randomized to one of three exercise protocols. Programs were supervised and ranged from a standard dose of 25-30 minutes of aerobic exercise, to a higher dose of 50-60 minutes of combined aerobic and resistance exercise. The researchers found that greater benefits would be gained from the more intense exercise for women who were receiving chemotherapy. This was especially true for patients who were fitter, premenopausal and at a healthy weight versus those who were overweight or obese. Previous literature from this same group has shown that fitness can be improved in all women after they complete their active cancer therapy. Read the study.

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