Exercise cuts cardiac events in non-metastatic breast cancer

(HealthDay)—For patients with non-metastatic breast cancer, exercise is associated with reductions in the incidence of cardiovascular events, according to a study published online May 23 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Lee W. Jones, Ph.D., from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, and colleagues conducted a prospective study involving 2,973 women diagnosed with non-metastatic breast cancer. Participants completed a questionnaire that assessed leisure-time recreational physical activity, measured in metabolic equivalent task-hours/week (MET-h/wk). Patients were followed for a median of 8.6 years.

The researchers found that the incidence of cardiovascular events decreased across increasing total MET-h/wk categories, in multivariable analysis (P_trend < 0.001). Compared with <2 MET-h/wk, for 2 to 10.9, 11 to 24.5, and ≥24.5 MET-h/wk the adjusted hazard ratios were 0.91 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.76 to 1.09), 0.79 (95 percent CI, 0.66 to 0.96), and 0.65 (95 percent CI, 0.53 to 0.80), respectively. Trends were similar for coronary artery disease and heart failure incidence (P values < 0.05). For adult patients with cancer, adherence to national exercise guidelines versus nonadherence correlated with an adjusted 23 percent reduction in the risk of cardiovascular events (P < 0.001). The correlation was not affected by age, cardiovascular disease risk factors, menopausal status, or anticancer treatment.

"Exercise is associated with substantial, graded reductions in the incidence of cardiovascular events in women with non-metastatic breast cancer," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical and exercise industries.

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