Many Breast Cancer Patients don't get Enough Exercise

Physical activity continues to play an integral part in our everyday health. Yet it's particularly important in prolonging the survival and quality of life in breast cancer survivors, according to a recent study published in the journal CANCER.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues examined levels of and changes in physical activity following breast cancer diagnosis in a population-based study of 1,735 breast cancer patients aged 20 to 74 years who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between 2008 and 2011 in 44 counties of North Carolina. Study participants were examined overall and by race.

Researchers found that only about 35 percent of the survivors met physical activity guidelines following their diagnosis. Six months after their diagnosis, 49 percent of patients also reported a reduction of about five hours per week of brisk walking or the equivalent physical activity.

When researchers looked at the participants based on race, findings showed that African-American women were about 40 percent less likely to meet national physical activity guidelines post-diagnosis. African-American women are also more likely to experience higher mortality rates from breast cancer than other groups in the United States.

"Medical care providers should discuss the role physical activity plays in improving breast cancer outcomes with their patients, and strategies that may be successful in increasing physical activity among breast cancer patients need to be comprehensively evaluated and implemented," saidBrionna Hair, a doctoral candidate in epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in a news release. 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services along with the American Cancer Society recommends that adults engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity each week.