A trial looking at exercise therapy for women who have had treatment for breast cancer

The researchers found that aerobic exercise had a short term benefit on quality of life in women treated for breast cancer.

108 women who had finished treatment for breast cancer took part. The women were put into 1 of 3 groups

• About one third followed an exercise programme to increase heart rate (aerobic exercise) with an exercise therapist and had exercise counselling. This included support, goal setting and helped the women to think about exercise in a positive way
• About one third followed a ‘body conditioning’ programme with an exercise therapist to increase flexibility, balance and posture. They did not have exercise counselling
• About one third joined the ‘usual care group’ and continued with their lives as usual – doctors call this the ‘control group ’

The women filled in quality of life questionnaires 8 weeks after they joined the trial. When the researchers looked at the completed questionnaires, they found the women in the aerobic exercise group reported a better quality of life than the women in the body conditioning group and usual care group.

We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed ) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.