Abstract P5-13-01: Effects of a 16-week combined aerobic and resistance exercise intervention on metabolic syndrome in overweight/Obese Hispanic breast cancer survivors
Authors: Dieli-Conwright CM , Sami N , Lee K , Spicer D , Buchanan TA , Demark-Wahnefried W , Courneya K , Tripathy D , Mortimer J 
Published: February 2018

Purpose. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and possibly cancer recurrence, and is higher in breast cancer survivors than age-matched postmenopausal women. Further, MetS is 1.5 times more prevalent in Hispanic women (&gt;40 years of age) than in non-Hispanic Whites and African Americans, thereby increasing the need to attenuate MetS in Hispanic breast cancer survivors (HBCS). This study examined the effects of a 16-week combined aerobic and resistance exercise intervention on MetS in overweight and obese HBCS.

Methods. This pre-planned sub-analysis included 60 sedentary HBCS (BMI325 kg/m2) from our larger MetS trial. HBCS were randomized to the exercise intervention (EXE; n=30) or usual care (UC; n=30). The EXE group participated in 3 supervised exercise sessions per week for 16 weeks. Aerobic exercise was performed at 65-85% heart rate maximum for ˜30 minutes. Resistance exercise was performed in circuit-fashion with 3 sets of 10-15 repetitions including upper and lower body exercises at 65-85% 1-repetition maximum. The UC group was asked not to increase their current exercise levels during the study period. Participants were tested for MetS (blood pressure, waist circumference, fasting blood glucose, HDL-C, and triglycerides) at baseline, within one week following the 16-week study period, and at 12-week follow-up for the EXE group only. Fasting blood samples were used to measure glucose, HDL-C, and triglycerides. Waist circumference was measured at the midpoint between the lower margin of the last palpable rib and the top of the iliac crest using a fabric tape measure. Blood pressure was measured with an automated sphygmomanometer. Body composition was assessed via dual energy X-ray absorptiometry.

Results. At baseline, 82% (overall and by group) of the HBCS met the criteria for MetS. There were no significant group differences in the MetS variables between the EXE and UC groups at baseline (p&gt;0.01). Post-intervention, all MetS components were significantly lower in the EXE group than the UC group (p&lt;0.01) and only 15% of participants in the EXE group met the criteria for MetS, representing a 67% absolute decrease. This is in comparison to 84% of participants in the UC group. Body fat mass decreased by 10% during the 16-week EXE period, compared to a 2% increase in the UC group (p&lt;0.01). MetS changes remained significantly improved in the EXE group when fat mass was included as a covariate in the statistical model. At the follow-up assessment in the EXE group, all MetS variables remained significantly improved compared to baseline (p&lt;0.01) and were not significantly different post-intervention (p&gt;0.25) despite slight increases (&lt;2%) in waist circumference and triglyceride levels.

Conclusion. This is one of few exercise trials in minority BCS and the first study to target MetS with exercise in HBCS. This 16-week supervised combined aerobic and resistance exercise intervention reduced MetS in sedentary, overweight and obese HBCS. Reductions in MetS components were maintained after completion of the intervention, suggesting the benefits of the intervention on MetS were sustainable in the absence of a supervised intervention.

Citation Format: Dieli-Conwright CM, Sami N, Lee K, Spicer D, Buchanan TA, Demark-Wahnefried W, Courneya K, Tripathy D, Mortimer J. Effects of a 16-week combined aerobic and resistance exercise intervention on metabolic syndrome in overweight/Obese Hispanic breast cancer survivors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2017 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P5-13-01.