CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Claudia Trudel-Fitzgerald, BA, Groupe de recherche en psycho-oncologie, Centre de recherche de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, Quebec, QC, G1R 2 J6; claudia.trudel-fitzgerald.1@ulaval.ca Physical activity (PA) and good dietary habits can moderate obesity while enhancing immune status, decreasing cancer risk. Innate immune cells, monocyte/macrophages, respond to and cooperate with other cells and components of the immune system to detect and eliminate abnormal cells. We report here the effect of physical exercise, with or without a high fat diet, on monocyte/macrophage numbers and activity in mice. Number and function of circulating blood monocytes from C57BL/6 mice were measured after 6 weeks of PA on a voluntary running wheel, compared with sedentary controls (SE) . PA Background: Cancer patients using complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are generally found to exhibit more depressive symptoms compared to non-users. The available studies, however, have not investigated the association between depressive symptoms and use of specific types of CAM in breast cancer patients and often fail to adjust for potential confounders. Objectives: To explore the associations between use of 10 different types of CAM and depressive symptoms among breast cancer patients 3-4 months post-surgery. Methods: A total of 3343 Danish women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer (age 26 -70) provided questionnaire data 3-4 months post-surgery on CAM use since diagnosis, the types of CAM used, depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory), physical function (SF-36), health behaviors, and Body Mass Index. Data on eligibility, disease status, treatment, and comorbidity were provided by the surgical departments. Information on socio-demographic factors and psychiatric history were obtained from national longitudinal registries. Results: Prevalence of overall CAM use was 40.1%. Multivariate negative binomial regression analyses showed that women using one or more types of CAM reported more depressive symptoms than non-users when adjusting for clinical, health-related, and socio-demographic variables (Ratio of Mean (RM) = 1.20; 95% CI = 1.13 -1.27; p < .001). When analyzing specific types of CAM, more depressive symptoms were found for women using dietary/nutrition supplements, massage, nutrition/exercise counseling, needle acupuncture, and relaxation/yoga (RM range: 1.11 -1.19; p <= .026 ). In contrast, use of herbal medicine, reflexology, healing, meditation, and kinesiology was unrelated to depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Use of some types of CAM may be seen as an attempt to cope with depressive symptoms. Alternatively, these types of CAM may exhibit a negative influence on mood. guidelines if they were male (24.5% vs 14.7%; χ2=10.3, df=1, p= 0.001), under 60 years (22.7% vs 16.0%; χ2=3.996; df=1, p=0.046), lived in the least deprived areas (21.5% vs 12.0%; χ2=8.795 df=1, p= 0.003), had a post-secondary education (22.9% vs 15.3%; χ2=5.563 df=1, p=0.018), and reported good heath (22.6% vs 10.4%; χ2= 17.993 df=1, p<0.001). Time since diagnosis, stage of disease, and disease status were not associated with physical activity. Among those not currently meeting guidelines, 59.9% thought that they ought to be more physically active. CONCLUSION: Overall levels of physical activity are low among men and women with cancer in the United Kingdom. However, the majority of insufficiently active participants showed awareness of the need to increase their activity, and may be receptive to interventions for promoting physical activity in this population. There is growing recognition that symptom communication is important in understanding how patients adjust to cancer and its treatment. This study examined two key aspects of communication: self efficacy for symptom communication and holding back from disclosing cancer related concerns. The sample included postmenopausal breast cancer survivors taking adjuvant hormonal therapy (N=35). Participants were on average 60.6 years old (SD 7.4) , mostly Caucasian (91%), and over half had at least a college education. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the degree to which self-efficacy for symptom communication and holding back predicted measures of symptoms and adjustment. These analyses controlled for demographic and medical variables that were significantly correlated with outcomes. Results indicated that holding back about discussing cancer related concerns, but not self-efficacy for symptom communication, was a significant predictor of menopausal symptoms, fatigue, intimacy, and functional wellbeing. Specifically, holding back was a significant predictor of physical menopausal symptoms (t(30) = 4.05, p=0.000), fatigue (t(31) = 3.47, p=0.002), intimacy (t(30) = −2.52, p=0.017), and functional well-being (t(31) = −3.77, p=0.001). Patients who reported a greater tendency to hold back from discussing their cancer related concerns had higher levels of menopausal symptoms (such as difficulty sleeping or a decrease in physical strength) and fatigue and lower levels of intimacy and functional well being. Taken together these findings suggest that holding back from disclosing cancerrelated concerns is a significant and consistent predictor of symptoms and adjustment to breast cancer in women taking adjuvant hormonal therapy to prevent recurrence. These findings raise the possibility that interventions designed to address symptom communication might be helpful to those patients who are prone to holding back from discussing their cancer-related concerns. To date, very little is known about the psychosocial predictors of depression among women with breast cancer (BCA). Even less is known about the psychosocial risk factors for depression across the maturational spectrum. Although premenstrual and postmenstrual women diagnosed with BCA share a substantially elevated risk of developing a major depression; the coping resources, life challenges, and cancer impact may differ markedly for younger and older women. The current study examined coping styles, social support quality, stressful life events, sleep quality, and sexual functioning in 103 women, ages 27 to 69, who had completed treatment for BCA within the previous five years. Women were sampled from across the U.S. and completed study measures electronically. The mean age of the sample was 46.71 (SD=9.88; median=46). The sample was generally well-educated with 94.6% of the sample having at least some college education. The majority of respondents were Caucasian (93.2%) leaving the proportion of minority respondents too small for meaningful analysis. Approximately 71% were employed either full or part time. The majority were married (70.9%) or cohabitating (4.9%). Consistent with previous reports, BCA staging and age were inversely and significantly related (r =−.225, p= .024) with younger women (<47 years) diagnosed with more advanced stage illness. Despite this differential level of life threat, current findings indicate that the emotional impact of BCA is generally equivalent across the maturational spectrum. Both younger and older BCA survivors endorsed significant levels of generalized psychological distress, as measured by the BSI, which was characterized primarily by rumination, anxiety, and hostility. Beck Depression Inventory-2 scores indicated that the sample, on average, experienced mild to moderate levels of depressive symptoms with younger women tending to be more symptomatic than the older women, although the difference did not reach significance (t= 1.68, p=.09). Sleep quality was also impaired across the sample with the disruption of sleep deprivation on daily activities more frequently found among younger women (χ2=15.82, p<.001). Data collection is complete and full results will be known well in advance of the conference. The differential experiences, resources, and needs of women struck by BCA at various stages in life are discussed. The identification of age-related risk factors for depression may inform early detection, intervention and prevention efforts. discharge from medical treatment. The data was analyzed with the content analysis, chi-square test, and correspondence analysis. A total of 11 attributes were extracted and categorized as follows: changes due to the cancer (N=24) and perceptions of the cancer (N=14). The attributes indicated by many of the participants were "having cancer brought my family closer together(N=14)", "I have met various people(N=12)", "cancer has been the precious experience of my life(N=11)", "I wonder why I got cancer(N=9)". Some attributes of positive changes due to the cancer and perceptions of the cancer were statistically significant differences among age. This study identified the important components of the impact of the cancer in Japanese childhood cancer patients after their discharge. Most patients thought that good things have come out of having had cancer. In addition, older patients have more diversified views of the cancer than younger patients because they have had many problems and benefits. We previously reported high prevalence of asthma (34% by parent report) in children in Puerto Rico (Nazario et al., 2004) . The purpose of this study was to describe the treatment, healthcare utilization, and morbidity of children with asthma in Puerto Rico. This phase of the study involved the administration of a parent interview, spirometry and physician examination, in order to learn more about medical care of children with asthma. Evaluations were conducted in 2001 on a sample of 300 5-10 year-old children enrolled in public schools in San Juan, including both children whose parents reported they had asthma (n=190) and presumed healthy children (n=110). The mean age was 6 years old (SD=.9 years) and 50.2% were females. Among those with asthma, 32% were prescribed anti-inflammatory medications, with 49% receiving only bronchodilators, and 18% not receiving any asthma medications. Using NHANES criteria, 46% had mild and 54% had moderate-severe asthma; of the latter, 13% of parents reported not having any medication prescriptions for their children. Children with asthma and those without did not differ on environmental risk factors or on forced vital capacity (FVC) measures. However, parents of children with asthma, compared to those without, reported they had significantly more symptoms of asthma in the last 14 days (p=.02) and missed more school in the last two months due to asthma (p=.02). Mean number of doctor visits, ED visits, and hospitalizations for asthma in the past year were 2.72, 1.64, and 0.42, respectively. Forty-one percent of parents of children with asthma reported that they did not have written instructions for taking medications; 96% were not told to use a peak flow meter; 82% did not have a written care plan for asthma care at school; and 72% did not having a written plan for environmental triggers. Of those prescribed nebulizer treatments, 51% reported not adhering to recommendations. Sixty-seven percent of those who were prescribed medication reported not adhering because of concerns regarding potential side effects. These results indicate that in 2001 children in San Juan were not being optimally treated for asthma. Given the high prevalence and morbidity of asthma in Puerto Rico, there is a need for educational efforts to improve treatment practices.