Abstract
BackgroundBreast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the world, accounting for 25% of all cancers. It is estimated that one in eight Australian women will develop cancer in her lifetime. Amongst these women, there is a growing number of women who develop metastatic or stage IV breast cancer. Metastatic breast cancer is essentially incurable and is the cause of death for women who die from breast cancer. However, the survival rate for this population of women has been increasing over time and indicates that more women are living longer with metastatic breast cancer.
Objectives
To evaluate the effects of physical exercise and nutrition interventions on the body composition of women with metastatic breast cancer. Secondary outcomes of interest are fatigue, quality of life, depression, anxiety, and survival.
Search Methods
Pubmed, CINAHL, Cochrane Central and EMBASE databases were searched up to October 25th, 2017, using pre-defined key words. Authors were also contacted when necessary for access to relevant articles. All study designs that investigated the effect of physical exercise and nutrition interventions in adult women with metastatic breast cancer were included.
Main Results
No studies were identified that investigated the effects of exercise or nutrition interventions on body composition in this population. There were no RCTs investigating a physical exercise and nutrition intervention. Generally, the studies all indicated positive results on the secondary outcomes of fatigue, quality of life and survival.
| Date of Award | 31 May 2018 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Supervisor | Barbara S Van der Meij (Supervisor) |