The Relationship Of Cardiorespiratory And Muscular Fitness To Quality Of Life In Patients Prior To Breast Cancer Treatment

Abstract

The General Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT-G) questionnaire is a frequently used quality of life metric in patients with cancer. Evidence describing the association between measures of physical fitness and quality of life is lacking. PURPOSE: We describe the relationship between the FACT-G and its sub-components with measures of fitness in women with breast cancer prior to receiving adjuvant cancer therapies. METHODS: We recruited 22 patients (mean + SD: age 57 + 11 years, BMI 34 + 9 kg m-1, peak VO2 18.8 ml kg-1 min-1) in the ExCITE (Exercise and Cancer: Integrative Therapies and Education) trial at Henry Ford Hospital between 10/08 and 8/09. Measures of peak VO2, muscular endurance, peak torque, and leg extension one-repetition maximum (1-RM) were correlated with the total FACT-G score and its four sub-components. Pearson correlation coefficients were performed to examine the various relationships. RESULTS: Significant correlations (r) were observed between the selected fitness measures and the physical sub-component (Phy) of FACT-G (table 1). A weak, non-significant relationship was observed between these fitness measures and the social (Soc), emotional (Emo), or functional (Func) subcomponents. CONCLUSION: The physical sub-component of the FACT questionnaire has a moderately strong relationship with both peak VO2 and muscular strength. Future studies are needed to describe this relationship over the course of adjuvant cancer therapies.Table 1