Effects Of A Community-based Lifestyle Intervention On Body Composition And Strength Among Breast Cancer Survivors

Weight management is critical to longevity and quality of life among breast cancer survivors (BCaS). Current community-based lifestyle programs targeting cancer survivors focus primarily on exercise alone. Mounting evidence demonstrates that comprehensive lifestyle weight management (LWM) interventions combining exercise and dietary modifications results in superior weight loss and improvements in clinically relevant health outcomes. There is a pressing need to determine the feasibility and utility of LWM exercise and dietary interventions among overweight and obese BCaS in the community. PURPOSE: The purpose of the single-arm pilot trial, Healthy New Albany Breast Cancer (HNABC) trial was to establish the feasibility and efficacy of implementing a group-mediated cognitive behavioral (GMCB) exercise and dietary intervention among overweight or obese BCaS. METHODS: A total of 21 BCaS (M age = 57.2 years; M BMI = 33.4 kg/m2) were enrolled into the GMCB intervention. Body composition and strength assessments were obtained at baseline, 3, and 6 months using DEXA, 1-RM chest press and single leg extension. Baseline to 3 and 6 month changes were calculated and effect size was estimated using Cohen’s d. RESULTS: Findings from an intention to treat analysis (n = 21) yielded small effect size reductions in total body mass and fat mass (body mass: 3 M d = -0.11 and 6 M d = -0.12; fat mass: 3 M d = -0.16 and 6 M d = -0.18). There was a small effect size increase in percent lean mass (3 M d = 0.23 and 6 M d = 0.27) and reductions in percent fat mass (3 M d = -0.23 and 6 M d = -0.23). Interestingly, moderate effect size increases in upper body strength were observed at 3 months (d = 0.42) and 6-months (d = 0.64). CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that exposure to the GMCB lifestyle intervention yielded modest, yet favorable shifts in body composition and strength that have significant clinical, health promotion, and disease prevention implications for overweight or obese BCaS. The findings illustrate the potential utility of implementing LWM in the supportive care of BCaS and suggest this intervention should be evaluated in future large-scale definitive efficacy studies among more diverse and representative samples of BCaS.