Physical rehabilitation program for cardiorespiratory health and quality of life among breast cancer survivors: A randomized control trial.
Authors: Fatima Abdul Rashid, Wajiha Anwar, Praveen Kumar Kandakurti, Khaled H. A. Al Qawasmeh, Muhammad Farooq Latif, Syed Hammad Tirmazy, Mohamed Omara, Animesh Hazari
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2025)

e12500 Background: Breast cancer treatment has improved significantly, contributing to a 5-year relative survival rate of 99% for localized cases. However, post-treatment survivors are reported to have significantly poor cardiovascular fitness which affects their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). In United Arab Emirates (UAE), evidence for practice, addressing post-treatment concerns is scarce. Hence, This research aimed to analyze the changes in cardiorespiratory fitness and HRQoL domains for breast cancer survivors using a 2-month physical rehabilitation. Methods: This study included breast cancer survivors aged 18-65 years who had undergone chemotherapy, surgery and/or radiotherapy. Participants were recruited by referral from Al Tawam Hospital, a national referral center for oncology, and the oncology department at Dubai Hospital. The intervention group received a 2 month supervised physical rehabilitation program focusing on aerobic training with 2 supervised sessions and 3 at-home sessions per week. The sessions were held at Thumbay Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Hospital. The control group received standard care at their treatment facility. The changes in cardiorespiratory fitness were measured by the change in peak oxygen uptake (VO 2 peak) by 2-km walk test and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) by peak flow meter, HRQoL, measured by the QLQ-C30 questionnaire. Outcomes were measured at baseline, post-intervention, and 3 months post-intervention. While the allocation of intervention was not blinded due to the nature of the intervention, the assessors were blinded, and subject randomization was double-blinded and facilitated by a third party not involved in the research. Results: 62 breast cancer survivors were randomly allocated to the intervention and control group (n=31 each). The intervention group showed a significant improvement from baseline to end of 3-month follow-up in terms of cardiorespiratory fitness: VO2peak increased by 8.3 ± 4.6 mL/kg/min and PEFR by 81 ± 2.73 L/min, while the control group demonstrated a nonsignificant decrease of 1.1 ± 2.1 mL/kg/min and 4 ± 2.48 L/min, respectively (between-group difference, p&lt;0.001). The intervention program was also significantly effective in improving HRQoL in all functional domains of scale except cognitive and social, and there was a significant reduction in the symptoms of fatigue, dyspnea, pain, and sleep disturbances. Conclusions: The intervention group showed significant improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness and multiple domains of HRQoL among breast cancer survivors in the UAE, which were sustained 3 months post-intervention. While these findings can help to improve survivorship care, further refinement of the exercise regimen is needed to improve the clinical feasibility and cost-effectiveness of this program. Clinical trial information: NCT06013527 .