TY - JOUR
T1 - The effects of exercise on cancer-related fatigue in breast cancer patients during primary treatment
T2 - a meta-analysis and systematic review
AU - Ehlers, Diane K.
AU - DuBois, Kelli
AU - Salerno, Elizabeth A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Introduction: Cancer-related fatigue is one of the most prevalent symptoms reported by breast cancer survivors. Despite a corpus of literature dedicated to understanding and identifying evidence-based treatments for cancer-related fatigue, gaps in the literature remain, particularly for breast cancer survivors during their primary treatment. Exercise training may represent an efficacious behavioral modality for mitigating fatigue symptoms in cancer survivors; yet, the effects of exercise during adjuvant therapy is an understudied area. Areas covered: In this review, we synthesize the most recent evidence of exercise’s effects on cancer-related fatigue during active treatment for breast cancer. We summarize the overall effects of exercise, moderators of these effects, and areas requiring further research. Expert opinion: Strong evidence supports at least modest effects of exercise on cancer-related fatigue during breast cancer treatment. However, several knowledge gaps persist, including the need to: risk stratify patients to tailor exercise promotion strategies; implement higher-quality studies and translate this evidence to clinical practice; adopt biobehavioral models to better understand exercise’s effects on cancer-related fatigue; evaluate the effects of exercise modes besides aerobic and combined training; and integrate technology to better understand and promote fatigue-reducing behaviors, such as exercise, across cancer care.
AB - Introduction: Cancer-related fatigue is one of the most prevalent symptoms reported by breast cancer survivors. Despite a corpus of literature dedicated to understanding and identifying evidence-based treatments for cancer-related fatigue, gaps in the literature remain, particularly for breast cancer survivors during their primary treatment. Exercise training may represent an efficacious behavioral modality for mitigating fatigue symptoms in cancer survivors; yet, the effects of exercise during adjuvant therapy is an understudied area. Areas covered: In this review, we synthesize the most recent evidence of exercise’s effects on cancer-related fatigue during active treatment for breast cancer. We summarize the overall effects of exercise, moderators of these effects, and areas requiring further research. Expert opinion: Strong evidence supports at least modest effects of exercise on cancer-related fatigue during breast cancer treatment. However, several knowledge gaps persist, including the need to: risk stratify patients to tailor exercise promotion strategies; implement higher-quality studies and translate this evidence to clinical practice; adopt biobehavioral models to better understand exercise’s effects on cancer-related fatigue; evaluate the effects of exercise modes besides aerobic and combined training; and integrate technology to better understand and promote fatigue-reducing behaviors, such as exercise, across cancer care.
KW - Exercise
KW - breast cancer
KW - cancer-related fatigue
KW - meta-analysis
KW - physical activity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85090132869&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85090132869&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/14737140.2020.1813028
DO - 10.1080/14737140.2020.1813028
M3 - Review article
C2 - 32842816
AN - SCOPUS:85090132869
SN - 1473-7140
VL - 20
SP - 865
EP - 877
JO - Expert review of anticancer therapy
JF - Expert review of anticancer therapy
IS - 10
ER -