Breast Cancer Survivors Improved Forearm Blood Flow Following a Single Bout of Aerobic Exercise: Preliminary Results

Abstract

Chemotherapy impairs endothelial and resistance artery function contributing to arterial dysfunction, a cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor. In healthy individuals, a bout of aerobic exercise acutely improves arterial function. However, the acute effect of aerobic exercise on resistance artery function has not been examined in breast cancer survivors (BCS).PURPOSETo examine the effect of a single bout of aerobic exercise on forearm blood flow in BCS.METHODSSeven BCS (48 ± 4 yrs; 26.0 ± 2.8 kg/m2), 1–5 year post‐chemotherapy treatments and eight female controls (44 ± 9 yrs; 24.2 ± 5.3 kg/m2) completed 30 minutes of cycling exercise at 65% of their maximal aerobic capacity. Cardiac output (Q), Heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and forearm blood flow (FBF) were assessed at baseline, 15 and 45 minutes post exercise. Automated ambulatory blood pressure monitor was used to acquire Q, HR, and MAP. FBF and Peak FBF was measured with strain‐gauge plethysmography at rest and following 5 minutes of upper arm occlusion respectively. Reactive hyperemia was calculated as the change between baseline and peak FBF. Area under the curve was calculated by including 13 measurements after the 5 min occlusion. Conductance was estimated as FBF divided by mean arterial blood pressure.RESULTSSee Table. In BCS and control groups baseline FBF and conductance increased 15‐min post‐exercise and returned to baseline at 45 minutes post exercise (p<0.05). MAP decreased at 45‐min post‐exercise in both groups (p<0.05). HR was elevated at 15‐min and 45‐min in both groups (p<0.001), while BCS had an overall higher HR (p<0.05). There were no changes in peak FBF, reactive hyperemia area under the curve, peak conductance and Q following exercise.CONCLUSIONBaseline forearm blood flow increased in breast cancer survivors following a single bout of aerobic exercise likely as a result of acute forearm vasodilation. In addition, breast cancer survivors did not exhibit differences at baseline or following exercise suggesting that arterial function was preserved 1–5 years following chemotherapy.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.