Exercise Good for Breast Cancer

For most women, discovering a breast lump is a terrifying experience. But research published in Cancer provides some hope. It appears that daily regular exercise can boost survival rates of overweight and obese women with breast cancer. Breast cancer is the second most fatal cancer in women, affecting approximately one out of twelve women at some stage of their life. The researchers reviewed more than 1200 women aged 20 to 54 with breast cancer. Most in the study were diagnosed with an early stage of cancer. Subjects were interviewed with respect to their exercise habits at age 12, 20 and the year preceding their diagnosis. The reaserchers also assessed the womens survival at ten years. The degree of physical activity was assessed by assigning metabolic equivalent scores, in which more vigorous activities, such as running, were assigned greater weight than a moderate activity such as walking. Based on the results, the investigators reported that high physical activity increased the survival rate by 22 % in the overweight and obese breast cancer subjects. This beneficial effect was not noted in normal or underweight subjects. This research acknowledges the modest benefit of high-physical activity.