Fitness and quality of life in endometrial cancer survivors and controls

19502 Background: It has been suggested that sedentary behavior during cancer treatment or effects of the treatment itself may decrease cardiorespiratory fitness in cancer survivors. However, few studies have tested whether cancer survivors actually have impaired cardiorespiratory fitness compared to similarly aged individuals who have not had cancer. We investigated whether endometrial cancer survivors had poorer fitness than women of similar age and activity level with no cancer history. Methods: The sample included endometrial cancer survivors in a pilot exercise study; all had been diagnosed with Stage I-IIIa disease and were at least 6 months post- treatment. Controls were recruited from a local multi-speciality clinic. Both groups had no contraindications to exercise and were sedentary. Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured by predicted maximal myocardial oxygen carrying capacity (MV02 max) on a submaximal ramped cycle ergometer test. Quality of life was measured using the SF-36 (physical and mental component scores). Results: The study accrued 20 survivors (Mean age=58.6, SD=7.9; Mean BMI=30.5, SD=7.7) and 13 controls (Mean age=55.8, SD=7.6; Mean BMI=30.3, SD=7.0). In t-tests comparing survivors and controls, there were significant differences in predicted MV02 max (p=0.044) and physical aspects of quality of life (p=0.004), but not mental aspects of quality of life. After adjusting for age and BMI using ANCOVA, the p value for predicted MV02 max increased to 0.068, but differences in physical quality of life remained significant (see Table 1 ). Conclusions: Endometrial cancer survivors have diminished quality of life in the physical domain compared to women who have not had cancer; similar results were found for cardiorespiratory fitness, although the effect was attenuated after adjusting for BMI and age. The results suggest endometrial cancer survivors could benefit from exercise interventions to improve fitness and physical functioning. Table 1 : Fitness and quality of life of endometrial cancer survivors and controls. [Table: see text] No significant financial relationships to disclose.