The Effects of Two Exercise Interventions on Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Cardiotoxic Chemotherapies

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy affecting women in the US and survivors experience long-term health effects of chemotherapy. Exercise training is an efficacious treatment for preserving functional capacity and has shown promise in mitigating cardiac toxicity of breast cancer chemotherapy. However, supervised exercise is not a practical solution for all breast cancer survivors, as medically monitored exercise facilities are poorly dispersed in the US and poorly utilized by cancer patients. To improve reach of these programs, remotely monitoring exercise sessions may be necessary. However, effects of remotely-monitored exercise conditioning before and during adjuvant/neoadjuvant chemotherapy on cardiotoxic outcomes are unknown. Our study aims to address this gap by testing the feasibility of two types of remotely-monitored exercise interventions, an exercise bicycle intervention compared to a brisk walking intervention, in 20 UVA Breast Cancer Clinic patients undergoing cardiotoxic chemotherapies. Remotely-monitored exercise training will start one week prior to chemotherapy (preconditioning) and continue throughout adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy (which is typically 4 months in duration). Our multidisciplinary research team proposes four aims: 1) Determine the extent to which eligible patients can be successfully recruited, randomized, and retained; 2) Assess VO2peak, echocardiography derived left ventricular ejection fraction and left ventricular global longitudinal strain among these patients at baseline and at \~4 months; 3) Examine treatment engagement and intervention acceptability; and 4) Explore the relationship between engagement in the exercise training and psychosocial function.