Intermittent Exercise and Symptom Management in Breast Cancer Survivors

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is a resubmission of an NCI K07 Career Development Award. Lynette Craft, PhD is a kinesiologist seeking to redirect her career to cancer prevention and control. Her current work focuses on the use of exercise as an adjunct treatment for women with clinical depression. The proposed award will provide the necessary education in cancer survivorship, strategies for behavior change, the assessment of patient reported outcomes, as well as further supervision and experience in addressing the specific needs of cancer survivors when developing exercise interventions. These opportunities will support her further career development and her desire to become an independently funded investigator. The primary co-mentors are Dr. Susan Gapstur, PhD, a cancer epidemiologist and Dr. Bonnie Spring, PhD, a clinical psychologist and behavioral medicine expert. David Cella, PhD, an expert in quality of life measurement in cancer patients, Seema Khan, MD, a breast surgeon, and Kerry Courneya, PhD, an expert in developing exercise interventions with cancer survivors will serve as secondary mentors. These sponsors will guide Dr. Craft's progress; provide supervision, and support the activities outlined in her career development plan. The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Department of Preventive Medicine are fully committed to the time and resources required to assure Dr. Craft success in her research endeavors. A pilot randomized control trial is proposed to explore the feasibility and estimate the effectiveness of an intermittent exercise intervention, as compared to a standard exercise intervention and a usual care control group, to alleviate cancer-related symptoms (depression, pain, and fatigue) and positively impact biomarkers of metabolic function in women with early stage breast cancer who are at least six months post adjuvant treatment. A secondary exploratory aim will examine differential changes in time spent in sedentary behaviors resulting from participation in the different exercise interventions. This research is will address an important challenges facing cancer survivors, that is, identifying a lifestyle intervention to reduce cancer-related symptoms which will also benefit the survivor's physical health. RELEVANCE: This research will examine whether standard and intermittent exercise programs are effective in reducing pain, depression, and fatigue in breast cancer survivors. Further, the physical health benefits of these exercise programs for the survivor will also be studied.