Home → Research News → Ask-the-Expert Conferences: Research News → June 2005: Updates from the 2005 ASCO Annual Meeting → Does exercise have impact on recurrence?

Does exercise have impact on recurrence?

Page last modified on: November 20, 2008

Question from Roxanne: The Nurses' Health Study found that breast cancer patients who do other kinds of moderate exercise for 3 to 5 hours a week are about 50 percent less likely to die from the disease than sedentary women (especially if their tumors were hormone sensitive). Is this because physical activity lowers hormone levels? If I am on tamoxifen and am postmenopausal, how much of an impact on cancer recurrence would moderate exercise have?: Answers —Hope Rugo, M.D.: Women who are on the Nurses' Health Study received standard therapy. In fact, the answer to your question is not known definitively, but the theory is that women who exercise have a lower body mass index—in other words, they're thinner, and may have lower circulating insulin levels. We know that fat stores estrogen, so it may be that the effect is to reduce estrogen stored in tissues and the amount of estrogen that's produced. Or it may be several different effects that we don't yet fully understand.

I believe that moderate exercise is an important part of any person's life. But now, based on this data, it's clearly important for women who have had early stage breast cancer, regardless of their use or not of hormone therapy. So one would expect that moderate exercise would reduce risk of recurrence along with use of standard therapies like tamoxifen.; Jennifer Armstrong, M.D.: I totally agree. I've been talking with my patients about the increasing evidence for a regular exercise program for further risk reduction in recurrent breast cancer.

On Wednesday, June 15, 2005 our Ask-the-Expert Online Conference was called Updates from the 2005 ASCO Annual Meeting. Hope Rugo, M.D. and moderator Jennifer Armstrong, M.D. answered your questions on the latest research advances presented at the 2005 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Orlando, FL.

The materials presented in these conferences do not necessarily reflect the views of breastcancer.org. A qualified healthcare professional should be consulted before using any therapeutic product or regimen discussed. All readers should verify all information and data before employing any therapies described here.

A production of LiveWorld, Inc.
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.

Email Updates

Stay informed about current research, online events, and more.

Visit our Gift Shop!

Shop Now »

Meet the Experts

Hope S. Rugo, M.D. is a clinical professor of medicine in the division of hematology and oncology at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, where she directs the Breast Oncology Clinical Trials Program.

Jennifer Armstrong, M.D. is a breast cancer oncologist at Paoli Hematology-Oncology Associates in Paoli, Pa., with a special interest in physicians' communication skills.