New UBC Okanagan research shows that exercise can do more than improve the strength and cardiovascular endurance of women who have survived breast cancer.
Dr. Sarah Purcell, a researcher with UBC’s Southern Medical Program and Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, recently published a study examining how exercise affects breast cancer survivors undergoing estrogen-blocking therapy—a standard long-term treatment.
“Breast cancer survivors generally have favourable overall survival rates,” says Dr. Purcell. “However, many have an elevated risk of weight gain, which can lead to obesity and eventual further complications such as heart disease and diabetes.”
Obesity, she notes, can also lead to the recurrence of cancer, making it a serious concern for survivors and the medical community, which continues to puzzle over the exact cause of this weight gain.
