Abstract 1847P
Background
Overweight and physical activity (PA) are associated with mortality in breast cancer (BC). This study investigates the changes in PA, weight, and emotional function (EF) during and after cancer therapies in BC patients.
Methods
During medical treatments, the parameters were collected by trained staff, while follow-up was carried out by telephone after the conclusion of the therapies. Moreover, patients received tailored nutritional counseling. The collected values included: anthropometric measures, questions about EF drawn from EORTC QLQ C30 Quality of Life questionnaire, the validated International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short version, and the Med-Diet 14 items (MDS) questionnaire. Clinical and demographic variables were obtained by the Hospital registry. Descriptive analysis, absolute frequencies, Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney, and Spearman Rank test were applied.
Results
95 BC patients were prospectively evaluated at follow-up (median of 20 months). During treatments, 71% of patients were classified as “inactive” and 29% as “minimally active”, according to IPAQ scoring protocol. Moreover, only 5% of patients reported a high adherence to dietary guidelines, 33% and 15% resulted being overweight and obese, respectively. MDS was correlated to PA (rs = 0.48; p < 0.001), as well as EF (rs = 0.47; p < 0.001). Body mass index (BMI) was inversely related to MDS (rs = -0.70; p < 0.001), PA (rs = -0.40; p < 0.001) and EF (rs = -0.50; p < 0.001). At follow-up calls the total energy expenditure related to PA significantly improved (p < 0.001), although 45% of patients were still classified as “inactive”. 47% of patients reported high adherence to dietary guidelines, whereas 29% and 16% of patients resulted still overweight and obese. EF did not significantly change from baseline to follow-up. After BC treatments conclusion only walking activity was related to EF (rs = 0.32; p = 0.001).
Conclusions
Low levels of PA and poor adherence to dietary guidelines are common in BC patients both during and after the cancer treatment phase. Due to the importance of PA and weight management in terms of prognosis in BC patients, comprehensive lifestyle intervention should be incorporated in BC care.
Clinical trial identification
Editorial acknowledgement
Legal entity responsible for the study
The authors.
Funding
Has not received any funding.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.