Breast Cancer Exercise Intervention Study

Breast Cancer Exercise Intervention Study (BREXINT)

This is a 24-week exercise programme consisting of aerobic exercise and muscle strength training, 3 sessions per week. The first 9 sessions are supervised by physiotherapists in person, followed by 63 sessions monitored remotely (video) or supervised by trainers at ActiveSG (Sport Singapore) gyms.

This is a multi-centre, randomised controlled study of a 6-month (24-week) exercise programme versus observation in 2156 early stage and locally advanced breast cancer patients who have undergone curative breast surgery, and who have completed (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy (if given) or radiotherapy (if given). Patients are stratified by centre (NCC/SGH, NUH), menopausal status, ER/PR status, body fat/muscle ratio.

Cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, level of routine daily physical activity, body fat/muscle ratio are monitored during the study period.

Blood is collected at baseline, 8 weeks, 16 weeks, 24 weeks, 52 weeks, then annually for 4 times.

Questionnaires are periodically conducted to assess quality of life (QoL). A food diary is kept.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients with histologically or cytologically proven stage 1, 2, or 3 breast cancer
• Patients who have undergone curative breast surgery
• Patients who have received (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy (if given) and/or radiotherapy (if given)
• Females aged 21 years and older
• ≤ 8 weeks from breast surgery, or the last adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy session, whichever is latest.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Cardiovascular, respiratory, musculoskeletal problems that preclude moderate physical activity.
• Major medical problems that are deemed by the investigator to be unsuitable for enrollment.