Abstract P3-09-16: Improved quality of life for early stage breast cancer survivors on a low carbohydrate, calorie restricted dietary intervention

Abstract

Abstract Background: It is well known that obesity and weight gain are significant issues in breast cancer survivorship. Weight gain frequently occurs after a breast cancer diagnosis, often attributed to adjuvant chemotherapy and the onset of menopause. Weight loss in the general population has been widely studied and shown to improve overall quality of life. The effect of weight loss on functional health and well being in breast cancer survivors is not well studied. The purpose of our study was to evaluate quality of life measures in overweight breast cancer survivors on a low carbohydrate, calorie restricted dietary intervention. Methods: Overweight estrogen-receptor positive postmenopausal breast cancer survivors who completed radiation and chemotherapy were eligible for the dietary intervention. There were 23 women enrolled on the study, 14 completed the dietary intervention and were used for analysis. The dietary intervention utilizes 0.5g protein/pound (actual body weight), less than 40 grams of carbohydrates, and 800-1200 calories per day. Patients stayed on the dietary intervention for an average of 23 weeks (7-59) depending on their weight loss goal. Quality of life was measured by a short-form health survey, SF-36, measuring functional status, wellbeing and overall evaluation of health (Brazier, 1992). Patients completed the quality of life questionnaire at baseline and every two months until the end of year 2. The student's t-test was used to analyze mental and physical health scores at baseline and intervals thereafter, p-value ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The average total body weight reduction after dietary intervention was 19.9% equivalent to 43.7 pounds. Changes in the physical health scores from baseline were significant when compared to 2-months after diet start (p = 0.001) and diet termination (p = 0.00001). These changes remained significant at the 2-month follow-up visit (p = 0.0001). The changes to mental health scores were not statistically significant when compared to baseline. Conclusion: Overall physical health quality of life scores were improved as a result of the low carbohydrate, calorie restricted dietary intervention in estrogen-receptor positive postmenopausal breast cancer survivors. Over half of the patients started with mental health scores above the general population norm, which could have contributed to the lack of statistical significance. Additional research with a larger sample size may confirm the positive influence of weight loss through a low carbohydrate dietary intervention. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2013;73(24 Suppl): Abstract nr P3-09-16.