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Purpose Exercise improves the quality of life (QOL) in cancer patients recovering from treatment. Since group exercise fosters cohesion, we sought to determine if paired exercise would have similar, positive effects. An experiential study design was used to compare the effect of exercise (12 weeks) on psychosocial health in paired versus individually trained cancer patients. Methods Female cancer patients ( n = 28) who completed cancer treatment were placed into either the singly trained or paired group. Groups were matched for cardiorespiratory fitness (peak oxygen consumption, single: 24.1 ± 7.4, pair: 24.8 ± 6.3 ml/kg/min) and age (single: 58 ± 12, pair: 58 ± 9 years). Patients participated in 36, 90-min exercise sessions in accordance with exercise recommendations. QOL (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General, FACT-G), depressive, fatigue, and insomnia symptoms were measured before, midway, and after the intervention. Fitness was measured pre- and post-intervention. Participants did not meet prior to the intervention. Two-way ANOVAs and multiple comparisons tests were used to detect differences ( p < 0.05). Results Emotional well-being and total FACT-G scores were significantly improved in the paired but not individually trained patients. Depressive symptoms were significantly improved at mid- and final time points in the paired group. Paired patients reported significant improvements in insomnia symptoms from pre- to mid-intervention. Depressive and insomnia symptoms in the individually trained group were unchanged. A significant main effect of group was detected in fatigue scores in patients who were not chronically tired at baseline ( F (1, 12) = 6.318, p = 0.0272). Both groups exhibited similar improvements in fitness. Conclusion Paired exercisers had greater benefits in QOL, emotional well-being, and insomnia and depressive symptoms compared to individual exercisers.

e12500 Background: Evidence has linked weight gain and obesity to increased breast cancer risk, poorer outcomes, decreased survivorship, and increased risk of recurrence. Adjuvant therapies can increase weight gain, making tailored exercise interventions beneficial in maintaining a healthy weight. In this study, body composition changes were examined after a 12-week exercise program in a cohort of breast cancer survivors. Methods: The Breast Cancer Exercise Rehabilitation Research Study recruited breast cancer survivors to undergo a 12-week exercise program (NCT04013568) and examine body composition changes. Measurements taken included anthropometry (waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, BMI), DXA body composition measurements (fat mass-visceral and subcutaneous, trunk to limb, muscle mass-appendicular, and whole body), and BIA (Bio-electrical Impedance Analysis-muscle, fat, and water). 34 participants completed the exercise program and baseline and post-12-week measurements were obtained. Descriptive statistics and a paired t-test analysis was done to analyze changes in body composition using SAS onDemand. A correlation analysis between measurements simple to do in clinic and DXA measurements were run to determine proxy use for DXA. Results: After a 12-week exercise program, reductions in body fat via DXA scan, BIA, and InBody (whole body fat, whole body fat %, trunk fat, leg fat, body fat %, hip width at maximum girth, body fat mass, and percent body fat) were observed. Additionally, increases in lean mass (Appendicular Lean Mass (ALM)/height2, Appendicular Lean/height2, ALM index, and lean body mass), whole body mass measured by DXA, basal metabolic rate, water retention (extracellular water and total body water), and skeletal muscle mass were observed. Correlation analysis revealed BMI can be used as a surrogate measure for whole body mass measured by DXA (r=0.91, p<0.001) and can be utilized to measure change over time. Skinfold sum showed moderate correlation for measuring subcutaneous fat mass by DXA (r=0.45, p=0.0096). Conclusions: In our population of breast cancer survivors, a 12-week exercise program did show various changes in body composition according to InBody, DXA, and BIA measurements. DXA and InBody measurements were feasible, making it readily available for patients. Additionally, simple measures such as BMI and skinfold sum showed moderate to strong correlation with DXA measurements, validating use of these measurements in routine practice. Clinical trial information: NCT04013568. [Table: see text]

Phase angle (PhA) has emerged as a prognostic indicator of survival and quality of life (QOL) in cancer patients. Identifying measures of physical fitness that correlate with PhA can provide guidance towards optimizing cancer rehabilitation programs.PURPOSE: To examine the relationship between PhA and physical fitness in breast cancer survivors. METHODS: Sixty-three breast cancer survivors (60 ± 9 years, PhA 4.59±0.52, mean±SD) completed assessments for muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiorespiratory endurance, flexibility, and body composition. PhA and body composition were measured using bioimpedance analysis (Inbody 770) at 50 KHz. The correlations between phase angle and measures of fitness were evaluated using Pearson coefficients. Simple and multiple linear regression was used to test if measures of muscular strength, muscular endurance, and cardiorespiratory endurance significantly predict PhA.RESULTS: Linear regression analysis showed that incline bench press 1-RM alone explains 28% (r2 = 0.28) of the variance in PhA. Multiple linear regression showed that incline bench press 1-RM, chair squat test repetitions, and predicted VO2peak explain 32% (r2 =0.32) of the variance in PhA. Incline bench press-1RM remained a significant predictor of PhA after adjusting for age (p=0.0001), while muscular endurance and cardiorespiratory endurance did not.CONCLUSION: Muscular strength is suggested to be a significant predictor of PhA in breast cancer survivors, while muscular endurance and cardiorespiratory endurance are not.IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: The prioritization of muscular strength for improving PhA in exercise based cancer rehabilitation programs may be of importance.

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