Circuit training and breast cancer risk biomarkers in teens
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: The overall goal of this study is to conduct a 16-week circuit training (aerobic + strength training) program to potentially impact breast cancer risk and obesity in forty overweight Latino girls. The prevalence of obesity is rapidly rising in children, especially among Latino youth. Latino children are also extremely physically inactive, insulin resistant, and have high amounts of visceral fat (i.e., the fat around the abdominal organs). In adults, obesity, physical inactivity, insulin resistance and visceral fat have all been linked to increased breast cancer risk, however very little is known about this relationship during adolescence. Overweight girls may start their menstrual cycles early in life and have an increased frequency of ovulatory cycles which have been widely linked with increased breast cancer. To date, no study has examined the effects of an exercise intervention on breast cancer risk factors in youth, especially in a high-risk overweight minority population.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 To examine whether 16 week circuit training can potentially impact breast cancer risk factors including age of menarche, frequency of ovulatory cycles, obesity, and insulin resistance in overweight Latino adolescent girls.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 This trial involves a screening/telephone visit where inclusion criteria and menstrual cycle information will be collected. Urinary testing to assess ovulation will occur periodically 2 months before and 2 months after the intervention. Thorough measures of body composition, hormones, and menstrual/ovulatory cycles will be performed at an outpatient clinical visit at the University of Southern California’s General Clinic Research Center (GCRC) before and after the 16-week exercise program. Once pre-testing is completed, forty overweight Latino girls (14-17 years of age) will be randomly assigned to either a circuit training group (strength + aerobic training 2 times per week) or a control group (delayed intervention). Twenty subjects will receive the circuit training (CT) program at our Lifestyle Intervention lab, which consists of 60-90 min CT sessions held on 2 non-consecutive days per week. Each weekly CT session will include 30-40 minutes total of cardiovascular activity (e.g., treadmill, elliptical machines, and aerobic classes) coupled with 30-40 minutes total of strength training, followed by a 5-10 minutes cool-down (abdominal exercises and stretching). Twenty subjects will be randomized to the control group, where at the end of the data collection (~6 months) they will be offered 4 weeks of intensive circuit training sessions held at the Lifestyle Intervention Laboratory.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 This is one of the first studies to assess whether a physical activity intervention, particularly a circuit training (strength training + aerobic training) approach, can impact breast cancer risk in youth, and the first study employing an overweight Latino adolescent population. Second it is one of the first studies to examine the relationship of physical activity, fat distribution (i.e., fat around the abdominal organs) and insulin resistance on breast cancer biomarkers in youth. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Advocacy involvement and relevance to the human issues associated with breast cancer:
 
 The USC-Norris Cancer Survivorship Advisory Council reviewed our proposed study and provided valuable feedback. Overall, they were encouraged that this study focused on prevention of breast cancer risk in younger women, especially in an underserved Latino youth population who are more overweight and insulin resistant than their Caucasian counterparts. The Council felt as though this population was relatively ignored in current breast cancer research cohorts. They also felt that too much current research focuses on risk in prevention in older women for whom it seems too late to intervene. The council especially liked the idea that this proposal would provide more insight on how an exercise intervention might reduce breast cancer risk, which has not yet been tested in children. They felt that the circuit training approach chosen would be ideal for this project, such as it will be low-cost, easily undertaken, without toxic side effects, and with healthy consequences for the whole body.