Effects of resistance exercise in women with or at risk for breast cancer-related lymphedema

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Abstract
Breast cancer survivors (BCS) have been told in the past to avoid strenuous repetitive activities in order to decrease the risk of lymphedema development. Recent evidence suggests that exercise may be beneficial to decrease the signs/symptoms and development of lymphedema. This study assessed the arm circumferences of 27 BCS (64 ± 7 years) at baseline and every 2 weeks thereafter during a 6-month resistance exercise training (RT) intervention. RT consisted of 2 days/week of 10 exercises including two sets of 8–12 repetitions at 52–69 % of the participants’ one-repetition maximum. A repeated measure analysis of variance revealed no significant changes in percent difference of arm circumferences at any assessment point (pre, 1.31 ± 6.21 %; post, 0.62 ± 6.55 %), nor were there any adverse lymphedema-related events reported during the study. These findings imply that RT can be a safe activity for women with or at risk for breast cancer-related lymphedema.

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