Impact of physical rehabilitation on aerobic and musculoskeletal capacity of women with breast cancer Débora Dias Ferraretto Moura Rocco, Ana Beatriz Gonçalves, Luiza Victor Frade Isidoro Leite, João Vitor Bezerra Silva, Caroline Simões Teixeira, Fábio Paiva, Cristiane Valetim, Alexandre Galvão da Silva

Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of cancer death in the female population in all regions of Brazil. After the diagnosis and treatment of this neoplasm, the specificity of sarcopenia may occur, which consists of a large loss of lean mass and decreased musculoskeletal function, which may delay the recovery of these women. Objective: To compare the aerobic and muscular physical demands of women after BC treatment before and after the physical rehabilitation program (PRF). Methodology: We evaluated 17 women, aged between 40 and 80 years, who had BC and underwent treatment for the disease. These patients do Hawaiian canoe (1 or 2x/week) at the Kaora Institute and came to the Physiology Laboratory at Santa Cecília University to increase their physical demand. Assessments were carried out before and after 6 months of physical training (2x/week) for 60' each session. We perform a 6-minute walk test (6MWT), the participant must walk the greatest distance on a 30-meter route for 6 minutes (extensive aerobic evaluation) and for musculoskeletal evaluation we perform a submaximal strength test (TFS) for the upper limbs, an exercise for the anterior and posterior portion of the trunk, which consists of the greatest number of repetitions for a fixed load, which can be 1 or 2 kg. An anamnesis aimed at women's knowledge was applied. Results: The average age of the participants was 62.4±11 years, body mass index 26.3±2 kg/cm2. In the 6MWT there was a significant increase in the average distance covered before and after PRF (355.42, 409.39; standard deviation: ±86.89, ±84 .38, respectively, p=0.004), this increase occurred with similar heart rate and oxygen saturation in the 1st and 6th minutes of the test. TFS increased the number of repetitions in exercises for the anterior and posterior portion of the trunk, but it was not significant in women who used greater weight in the evaluation. However, with a load of 1 kg, there was an increase significant in the number of repetitions on average in the pectoral region after the training period compared to the initial period (Pre: 29.13 ± 16.61, Post: 45.13 ± 19.35; p= 0.0019). We conclude that the physical rehabilitation program was efficient in increasing the aerobic and muscular fitness of women after breast cancer treatment.