Dr. Michelle Holmes and her colleagues from Harvard University presented their study results at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in March 2004. Their findings were from the ongoing Nurses Health Study that has followed almost 122,000 female nurses since 1976. Dr. Holmes and her colleagues reviewed the physical activity reports of 2,167 women who were diagnosed with stages I-III breast cancer after the study began.

Most of the women in this study simply walked for exercise. Those who walked for 1 - 3 hours/week, at a leisurely pace of 3 miles/hour (a 20-minute mile), reduced their risk of cancer recurrence by 25% (as compared to sedentary women).

Those women who were physically active for 3 - 8 hours/week reduced their recurrence risk by a whopping 50%! This latter finding is comparable to the benefits of taking tamoxifen for women who are estrogen receptor positive.

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Thanks Merridith for posting this article. Just what I wanted to hear!! I go to an exercise program twice a week set up especially for survivors. It's a great program and we are all motivated.(Having your life on the line can do that.) Looks like a good site with other articles of interest. Thanks.
Love, Leslie

My understanding is that exercise doesn't PREVENT cancer or recurrences, but that it improves survival in the face of cancer and recurrences.

That makes sense to me. Those who exercise are more likely to be fit and strong and aware of their bodies (not cause and effect, just a correlation). When in treatment, it certainly helps to be fit and strong, doesn't it? I know that I tolerated my treatments very very well, and being fit and strong had to be a part of that, I would think. I am not expressing myself as well as I would like as I am exhausted from my yoga teacher training program, lol.

Keep on moving...

lauren

I appreciate the post.

But, on one hand, I dislike studies like these. There seems to be a philosophy in the minds of some folks - not all, thankfully - that if we women only (a) did self-exams; and (B) exercised and kept our weight down -- we would not get breast cancer; i.e., it's all our own fault! :)

Since getting bc, I'm sensitive to this - I don't want to be blamed for my bc.

Sometimes I also hate these studies because they fuel incorrect assumptions in minds of others. However, if they gather credible information that may actually benefit my chances of living a long life with it...then I am all for it.

I had people ask me what I did to get it...and how could I miss the lump in my breast? "Don't you check your breasts?" was a good one. I guess when they say these things it is their fear showing its ugly head. If she can get it, then so can I. Like we are contagious!

I personally think those studies are just a waste of time and research funds. It's like, hello, duh, exercise is good for you. But so what? If you are inclined to exercise, you will. If not, nothing is going to get you to do it.

Have to disagree with you there. You are thinking like an educated, enlightened person. I think that you would be surprised by the vast amount of our population that doesn't understand the benefits of exercise. When research concludes that something can help the survival of patients of all kinds of illnesses and mainstream medicine counsels patients on this, then it benefits many more individuals. I am talking about very small town doctors in rural areas counseling patients because it is uniformly accepted as a benefit. I also think that faced with a life threatening illness can make anyone change their inclination on exercise & eating well if it is proven. Just my thoughts on this!
Peace, Ruth