Effects of combined exercise (aerobic and resistance) on body composition and physical condition in breast cancer patients and survivors. A systematic review of clinical trials

Objective: Conduct a systematic review on the effects of combined strength and aerobic endurance exercise on physical fitness and body composition in breast cancer patients and survivors regardless of adjuvant therapy. Methods: A systematic search was carried out based on the Prisma 2020 Declaration, with descriptors was carried out between June and December 2021 in the Science Direct, Lilacs, Cochrane Library and PubMed databases, subsequently titles were selected according to suitability and the objective of the review and finally the abstracts of the articles were read. selected articles to filter by eligibility criteria, including randomized and non-randomized clinical trials. 355 articles were evaluated; The publication quality and risk of bias of each article were assessed using critical reading. Results: 13 studies were included in the review, involving 879 older women with early-stage breast cancer, undergoing different regimens of chemotherapy, radiotherapy or hormonal therapy who participated in different programs of combined resistance and aerobic resistance exercise. Significant improvements in VO_2max as well as HR_max was found in 12- to 16-week programs performed at moderate-high intensities (60%-80% HR_max or 55% to 95% VO_2max); strength results also indicate improvements in programs with intensities of 35%-80% of 1RM, training three times per week. Conclusion: the combined exercise of strength and supervised aerobic resistance executed in a time interval of at least six months with moderate-high intensities, has positive effects on cardiorespiratory capacity, strength, body composition and some physiological variables that, in the end, improve physical fitness in breast cancer patients and survivors.