Impact of Nutritional Intervention in Women With Breast Cancer Under Adjuvant Chemotherapy (PASAPAS)

With approximately 52,600 new cases diagnosed in France in 2010, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, according to national projections of the incidence and cancer mortality for 2010.

Weight gain in adulthood, overweight or obesity, physical inactivity and alcohol consumption are risk factors commonly associated with risk of breast cancer (mainly for post-menopausal for overweight and obesity).

Several hypotheses explain the association between obesity and breast cancer: obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes participate to changes in hormone levels (estrogen, leptin, insulin) that promotes mammary carcinogenesis and tumor progression.

The association between obesity and development of breast cancer is partly due to increased serum levels of estradiol produced by adipocytes, but the role of insulin resistance and inflammation associated with obesity is widely discussed.

Reduced physical activity is one factor likely to weight gain in women after adjuvant chemotherapy for localized breast cancer. Furthermore, physical activity appropriately could improve many prognostic factors and survival of women after breast cancer. Thus, several large cohort studies of women with breast cancer showed an average mortality reduction of 45% associated with moderate physical activity compared with inactivity. Adapted Physical Activity (APA) could also improve fitness, quality of life, body image, treatment compliance and reduce fatigue.

A rich fruits and vegetables diet combined with regular physical activity appears to offer the best protection from breast cancer. The nature, frequency, duration, intensity and arrangement of physical training program meetings are key elements to consider, metabolic responses differ according to these factors.

The optimal management for an improved level of physical activity appear to be an individual of at least three sessions per week, 30 to 60 minutes each with a moderate intensity, allowing a physiological response to chronic exercise and an adequate recovery.

After diagnosis of breast cancer, there is thus many possible risk factors of mortality or morbidity related to nutritional factors available to management. These risks prevention through management of these patients appears indispensable through an APA program.

Thus, the investigators propose to test the feasibility of implementing a program of dietary intervention and APA to prevent the risk of weight gain (which affects more than half of patients) and maintain and/or increase their level of physical activity during and after adjuvant chemotherapy.