Cohort study of association between tailored exercise strategies and mortality among breast cancer survivors

Guidelines recommend tailored (individualized) exercise strategies for cancer survivors. However, there are limited data on the effects of these strategies on long-term mortality outcomes among breast cancer survivors. A cohort study with a target trial emulation design initially included 959 breast cancer survivors and approximately replicated the results of the Colon Health and Lifelong Exercise Change (CHALLENGE) randomized trial. These findings were then extended to show that more pragmatic, tailored strategies requiring adaptive increases in exercise levels were associated with lower 10-year all cause mortality and 10-year breast cancer-specific mortality among a broader group of 2107 breast cancer survivors. The authors conclude that clinicians may consider pragmatic, tailored strategies requiring increases in exercise levels that are adapted to the individual characteristics of breast cancer survivors.