A new study could change exercise recommendations for breast cancer survivors to give them the freedom to pursue a wider range of physical activities after treatment, experts say.
Breast cancer survivors for years have been told not to lift weights for fear of developing an incurable condition called lymphedema, a complication of cancer surgery that can cause painful swelling in the arm. To prevent the disabling condition, women have been told to virtually "put their arm in a box," says Jennifer Ligibel of Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
But that can allow bones and muscles to weaken, Ligibel says. So when a woman needs to lift something heavy, she may injure herself and cause a flare-up of lymphedema.
Up to 70% of breast cancer survivors experience some symptoms of lymphedema, although many cases are mild, a study in today's New England Journal of Medicine shows. The new findings show that women with lymphedema who follow a carefully designed strength-training program can build muscle while cutting the risk of painful flare-ups in half.
"For many years, we've told women not to lift anything heavier than a handbag," says Anna Schwartz, an affiliate professor of nursing at the University of Washington and author of Cancer Fitness, who was not involved in the study. "This is the first really well-designed study that demonstrates that women can do a lot more than we thought."
Doctors studied 141 lymphedema patients who had an average age in the mid-50s and assigned half to a structured weight-lifting class at the YMCA. By the end of the course, the exercisers could bench-press an average of 53 pounds -- a 29% improvement, says study co-author Kathryn Schmitz of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
After one year, 14% of the exercisers experienced a flare-up in their lymphedema, compared with 29% of the non-exercisers, says the study, funded partly by the National Institutes of Health.
Lifting weights builds bone mass, so it could be important for breast cancer survivors, who are at high risk of osteoporosis, says Ligibel, who also wasn't involved in the study. Exercise also can help women control their weight, which reduces their risk of relapse.
To reduce the chance of injury, Schmitz encourages breast cancer survivors to work with trained instructors at first.
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