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Exercise in Breast Cancer Survivors

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Breast Cancer Survivorship

Abstract

Epidemiological studies have shown that regular exercise reduces the risks of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. As a result the UK Chief Medical Officer recommends that the population aged between 19 and 64 years should take 150 min of moderate intensity exercise in bouts of 10 min or more every week. There are a number of biological mechanisms by which exercise might be expected to be particularly beneficial in women with breast cancer. These mechanisms suggest that physical activity might have the potential to prevent primary breast cancer, reduce the risk of recurrence in women with a prior diagnosis of early breast cancer, and improve overall survival following a breast cancer diagnosis. This chapter discusses the clinical evidence from non-randomized studies that exercise can improve survival outcomes in women with a prior diagnosis of early breast cancer. The other potential health benefits of exercise in breast cancer survivors are also discussed, including the impacts on bone health, cancer-related fatigue and adherence to endocrine therapy.

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Correspondence to Nawa Mustafa Amin BSc (Hons), MSc, MBBS, MRCP .

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Amin, N.M., Ring, A. (2016). Exercise in Breast Cancer Survivors. In: Ring, A., Parton, M. (eds) Breast Cancer Survivorship. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41858-2_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41858-2_8

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-41856-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-41858-2

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