Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Breast cancer is the leading cancer type among Canadian women. Exercise has been used successfully during and after breast cancer treatment to reduce the negative side effects and physical impairment caused by treatment. However, much more research is needed to determine the most beneficial exercise prescription for breast cancer patients. An exercise prescription is a detailed exercise plan or guideline that takes into account your current health status and goals. The exercise prescription currently used in cancer and exercise research does not take into account the cancer treatment's poisonous effects, which can affect the way the body reacts to exercise. When these effects are not considered, the exercise may not be appropriate and may not offer full potential benefits. In my project I will first take several measurements to attempt to determine how the effects of breast cancer treatment affect the patient's body during exercise concurrent to treatment. I expect to find that the heart function of breast cancer patients will be lower than healthy women of similar ages and that some of the measurements can be used to determine exercise prescription more accurately. Then I will design an exercise rehabilitation program for breast cancer patients based on what was learned from the first study. This will be the first exercise program to use a prescription based on changes in the body that are cancer treatment-specific. I expect that this exercise program will be more beneficial than a typical exercise prescription. My project is likely to create a more clear understanding of the way a cancer patient's body reacts to exercise during treatment and to identify a method for more accurate exercise prescription. This is important because current and future studies will attempt to determine the exercise prescriptions that deliver the most benefits to cancer patients. A clear understanding and high level of accuracy are imperative to attain the truly optimal benefits.