Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2018 Feb;168(1):147-157.
doi: 10.1007/s10549-017-4576-y. Epub 2017 Nov 22.

Adipose tissue inflammation in breast cancer survivors: effects of a 16-week combined aerobic and resistance exercise training intervention

Christina M Dieli-Conwright  1 , Jean-Hugues Parmentier  2 , Nathalie Sami  3 , Kyuwan Lee  3 , Darcy Spicer  4 , Wendy J Mack  5 , Fred Sattler  4 , Steven D Mittelman  2   6
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Adipose tissue inflammation in breast cancer survivors: effects of a 16-week combined aerobic and resistance exercise training intervention

Christina M Dieli-Conwright et al. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2018 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose: Obesity is a leading modifiable contributor to breast cancer mortality due to its association with increased recurrence and decreased overall survival rate. Obesity stimulates cancer progression through chronic, low-grade inflammation in white adipose tissue, leading to accumulation of adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs), in particular, the pro-inflammatory M1 phenotype macrophage. Exercise has been shown to reduce M1 ATMs and increase the more anti-inflammatory M2 ATMs in obese adults. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a 16-week exercise intervention would positively alter ATM phenotype in obese postmenopausal breast cancer survivors.

Methods: Twenty obese postmenopausal breast cancer survivors were randomized to a 16-week aerobic and resistance exercise (EX) intervention or delayed intervention control (CON). The EX group participated in 16 weeks of supervised exercise sessions 3 times/week. Participants provided fasting blood, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and superficial subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue biopsies at baseline and following the 16-week study period.

Results: EX participants experienced significant improvements in body composition, cardiometabolic biomarkers, and systemic inflammation (all p < 0.03 vs. CON). Adipose tissue from EX participants showed a significant decrease in ATM M1 (p < 0.001), an increase in ATM M2 (p < 0.001), increased adipose tissue secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokines such as adiponectin, and decreased secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF- α (all p < 0.055).

Conclusions: A 16-week aerobic and resistance exercise intervention attenuates adipose tissue inflammation in obese postmenopausal breast cancer survivors. Future large randomized trials are warranted to investigate the impact of exercise-induced reductions in adipose tissue inflammation and breast cancer recurrence.

Keywords: Adipose tissue; Body composition; Macrophages; Obesity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Compliance with Ethical Standards

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study schema
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Siegel RL, Miller KD, Jemal A (2015) Cancer statistics, 2015. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians 65(1):5–29. - PubMed
    1. Protani M, Coory M, Martin JH (2010) Effect of obesity on survival of women with breast cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis. Breast cancer research and treatment 123(3):627–35. - PubMed
    1. Iyengar NM, Hudis CA, Dannenberg AJ (2013) Obesity and inflammation: new insights into breast cancer development and progression. American Society of Clinical Oncology educational book / ASCO American Society of Clinical Oncology Meeting:46–51. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Campbell KL, Makar KW, Kratz M, Foster-Schubert KE, McTiernan A, Ulrich CM (2009) A pilot study of sampling subcutaneous adipose tissue to examine biomarkers of cancer risk. Cancer Prev Res (Phila) 2(1):37–42. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Campbell KL, Foster-Schubert KE, Makar KW, Kratz M, Hagman D, Schur EA, et al. (2013) Gene expression changes in adipose tissue with diet- and/or exercise-induced weight loss. Cancer Prev Res (Phila) 6(3):217–31. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms