Conclusions : The available literature suggests that African American breast cancer survivors adhere to interventions of various modalities and are capable of making modest to significant changes .
Background : African American breast cancer survivors have a higher incidence of estrogen receptor negative and basal-like ( e.g. , triple negative ) tumors , placing them at greater risk for poorer survival when compared to women of other racial and ethnic groups .
While access to equitable care , late disease stage at diagnosis , tumor biology , and sociodemographic characteristics contribute to health disparities , poor lifestyle characteristics ( i.e. , inactivity , obesity , and poor diet ) contribute equally to these disparities .
Lifestyle interventions hold promise in shielding African American survivors from second cancers , comorbidities , and premature mortality , but they are often underrepresented in studies promoting positive behaviors .
This review examined the available literature to document health behaviors and lifestyle intervention ( i.e. , obesity , physical activity , and sedentary behavior ) studies in African American breast cancer survivors .
Physical activity and survival after breast cancer diagnosis.
CONTEXT Physical activity has been shown to decrease the incidence of breast cancer , but the effect on recurrence or survival after a breast cancer diagnosis is not known . OBJECTIVE To determine whether physical activity among women with breast cancer decreases their risk of death from  breast cancer  compared with more sedentary women . DESIGN , SETTING , AND PARTICIPANTS Prospect i ve observational study based on responses from 2987 female registered nurses in the Nurses ' Health Study who were diagnosed with stage I , II , or III breast cancer between 1984 and 1998 and who were followed up until death or June 2002 , whichever came first . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Breast cancer mortality risk according to  physical activity  category ( <3 , 3 - 8.9 , 9 - 14.9 , 15 - 23.9 , or > or = 24 metabolic equivalent task [ MET ] hours per week ) . RESULTS Compared with women who engaged in less than 3 MET-hours per week of physical activity , the adjusted relative risk ( RR ) of death from breast cancer was 0.80 ( 95 % confidence interval [ CI ] , 0.60 - 1.06 ) for 3 to 8.9 MET-hours per week ; 0.50 ( 95 % CI , 0.31 - 0.82 ) for 9 to 14.9 MET-hours per week ; 0.56 ( 95 % CI , 0.38 - 0.84 ) for 15 to 23.9 MET-hours per week ; and 0.60 ( 95 % CI , 0.40 - 0.89 ) for 24 or more MET-hours per week ( P for trend = .004 ) . Three MET-hours is equivalent to walking at average pace of 2 to 2.9 mph for 1 hour . The benefit of physical activity was particularly apparent among women with hormone-responsive tumors . The RR of breast cancer death for women with hormone-responsive tumors who engaged in 9 or more MET-hours per week of activity compared with women with hormone-responsive tumors who engaged in less than 9 MET-hours per week was 0.50 ( 95 % CI , 0.34 - 0.74 ) . Compared with women who engaged in less than 3 MET-hours per week of activity , the absolute unadjusted mortality risk reduction was 6 % at 10 years for women who engaged in 9 or more MET-hours per week . CONCLUSIONS Physical activity after a breast cancer diagnosis may reduce the risk of death from this disease . The greatest benefit occurred in women who performed the equivalent of walking 3 to 5 hours per week at an average pace , with little evidence of a correlation between increased benefit and greater energy expenditure . Women with breast cancer who follow US physical activity recommendations may improve their survival
Conclusions : The available literature suggests that African American breast cancer survivors adhere to interventions of various modalities and are capable of making modest to significant changes .
Background : African American breast cancer survivors have a higher incidence of estrogen receptor negative and basal-like ( e.g. , triple negative ) tumors , placing them at greater risk for poorer survival when compared to women of other racial and ethnic groups .
While access to equitable care , late disease stage at diagnosis , tumor biology , and sociodemographic characteristics contribute to health disparities , poor lifestyle characteristics ( i.e. , inactivity , obesity , and poor diet ) contribute equally to these disparities .
Lifestyle interventions hold promise in shielding African American survivors from second cancers , comorbidities , and premature mortality , but they are often underrepresented in studies promoting positive behaviors .
This review examined the available literature to document health behaviors and lifestyle intervention ( i.e. , obesity , physical activity , and sedentary behavior ) studies in African American breast cancer survivors .