6% of breast cancer patients in the exercise program required delay or discontinuation of Herceptin because of reduced left ventricular ejection fraction compared with 28% otherwise
Chemotherapy can cause heart damage. That much is know. The two main challenges faced by breast cancer patients are to identify which chemotherapy regimens cause heart damage and how to prevent or reduce this awful side effect when undergoing those chemotherapy regimens.
According to the article linked and excerpted below, exercise DURING adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer helped women feel better during chemo, helped women undergo the full course of therapy, helped women get back to work faster and helped women just plain feel better and more motivated after chemotherapy.
I am a long-term cancer survivor (myeloma not breast cancer). My induction chemotherapy did a number on my heart. I live with chronic atrial fibrillation.
I will be direct. Exercise DURING chemotherapy can be difficult. But Herceptin damages the heart. And the damage can be late stage (occur years after treatment). If you are stage II or stage III, please exercise and eat well during chemo. You will be glad you did.
Further, certain evidence-based supplements have shown the ability to reduce or prevent chemotherapy-induced heart damage.
Click now to go to the Complete Cancer Coaching Products Store-
I am also a cancer coach. Toxic therapies may be necessary however understand that there are evidence-based, non-toxic therapies such as exercise to reduce or eliminate negative side effects of chemotherapy and radiation.
For more information about actionable therapies to reduce the risk of relapse and/or reduce or prevent collateral damage, scroll down the page, ask a question and I will reply ASAP.
thank you,
David Emerson
- Cancer Survivor
- Cancer Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
Articles of Interest:
“A supervised, moderate to high-intensity exercise program in breast cancer patients helped stave off expected declines in fitness and function during adjuvant chemotherapy and improved treatment tolerance, according to randomized trial results…
Most participants had stage II or III breast cancer. Approximately 75% of study participants underwent breast-conserving surgery and approximately the same number received radiotherapy.
“Interestingly, only 6% of patients in the OnTrack exercise program required delay or discontinuation of trastuzumab (Herceptin) because of reduced left ventricular ejection fraction compared with 28% in the usual care group (OR 0.16, 95% CI 0.02-1.57) and 24% in the Onco-Move program (OR 0.20, 95% CI 0.02-1.91).”
“A small study has found that after 3 months of Herceptin treatment, nearly 58% of women had some loss of heart function… The results suggest that heart problems caused by Herceptin are more common and may happen earlier than many doctors think…
“Heart disease and cancer are the top two leading causes of death in the United States — and a new paper highlights how these major health concerns can intertwine.
A scientific statement from the American Heart Association,
published Thursday in the journal Circulation, warns that breast cancer patients may be at an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and could benefit from discussing those risks with their doctors.
“For older women, (cardiovascular disease) poses a greater mortality threat than breast cancer itself. This is the first scientific statement from the American Heart Association on CVD and breast cancer,” the statement says.
Cardiovascular disease and breast cancer already have several overlapping risk factors, such as age and obesity, and current lifesaving breast cancer treatments could have negative impacts on heart health, according to the statement. “We hate to trade one disease for another,” said Dr. Laxmi Mehta, an author of the statement and director of the Women’s Cardiovascular Health Program at
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
“We are still recommending that patients do get their breast cancer treatment. They should get the best treatment that’s necessary for their breast cancer,” she said, but patients should try to prevent or reduce those risks to their heart health by maintaining a healthy diet, exercising, and monitoring their blood pressure and cholesterol…”
