Background: Adjuvant chemotherapies are commonly used for treating early-stage breast cancer. However, whether chemotherapeutic regimens affect exercise tolerance and cardiovascular responses remains unclear. Therefore, we investigated the effects of receiving CAF and AC-T on exercise tolerance and cardiovascular responses in patients with early-stage breast cancer. Methods: Thirty-four patients with breast cancer (age: 44 ± 1 years; stage I-II) received either CAF (n = 15) or AC-T (n = 19), depending on clinical decisions. Their step-exercise tolerance and cardiovascular responses were assessed before and after chemotherapy. Results: After chemotherapy, there were no differences in baseline measurements between patients receiving CAF or AC-T. The increases in resting heart rate (RHR) of those receiving AC-T was significantly greater than that of those receiving CAF. CAF and AC-T did not result in increased pulse wave velocity (PWV), yet the subendocardial viability ratio (SEVR) in patients receiving AC-T was significantly lower than the baseline. Greater change in post-exercise heart rate recovery (recovery HR) after chemotherapy was observed in those who had received AC-T; the Recovery HR in AC-T patients was significantly higher during post-exercise period than that in CAF patients. Conclusions: AC-T chemotherapy increases RHR and impairs exercise tolerance after chemotherapy more than CAF. Moreover, AC-T also lowers myocardial perfusion more than CAF after chemotherapy.
Retrospective analysis of the effect of breast surgery on body posture in patients with early stage breast cancer after cancer treatment (Venus study)
