How Physical Activity Impacts Cancer Care Outcomes

Maintaining physical activity during active breast cancer treatment may positively impact both a patients' mental and emotional well-being, according to LaShae D. Rolle, pre-doctoral fellow student in Prevention Science & Community Health in the Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami.

Rolle, a breast cancer survivor, conducted research at the Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, where she aimed to understand how continuing to participate in elite-level strength training impacted her, both physically and mentally, while undergoing breast cancer treatment.

To further explore this topic, she sat down for an interview with CURE, in which she also expanded on her hopes for individualized, high-intensity exercise during cancer care and how this may be integrated into treatment.

Transcript

Beyond the physical benefits, how does continuing strength training during active breast cancer treatment impact your mental and emotional well-being during such a difficult time?

From the moment of a cancer diagnosis, you lose a sense of control over what's happening to you. You have no control over what you have to do. You have to go to appointments and get whatever treatment is recommended. For me, it was surgery, chemo and radiation. I had pretty much no say in that, and I just wanted to get better. What I did have a say in, and what I did have control over, were my workouts and my mentality, and that's what I focused on. It helped me stay focused and become unstoppable.

For those moments, I was able to have a sense of normalcy. A normal day for me would be working out, and so I was able to do that throughout treatment. That's what exercise was for me. It made me believe that this wasn't it and that I could come back after cancer. By being able to have numbers so close to my max numbers in the middle of chemo, it made me believe that this was not the end. I can come back, and I can truly be strong after this diagnosis. It was just amazing for me from a mental and confidence standpoint post-cancer.

My hope is that physicians and all clinicians are able to read this research and apply it to their patients and tell them that it's an individualized approach. I would hope that for every patient, when they get a prescription for medicine or any kind of therapy, they also get an exercise prescription telling them what they can do.

That's the end goal: for people to know that they can exercise during and after cancer treatment and that they have some sort of regimen to follow… [My] full workout regimen can be tailored sometime in the future for other patients.

This piece reflects the author’s personal experience and perspective. For medical advice, please consult your health care provider.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

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