Adapted physical activity for breast cancer patients: shared considerations with two Olympic and world Italian sports champions.

ABSTRACT

Breast cancer is a growing global public health concern. Thanks to the recent treatments progress, the survival rate of BC patients has significantly improved (88% of 5-year survival rate) and the number of cancer survivors has also increased. Notwithstanding these brilliant results, many BC patients have long-term side effects as pain, oedema, limited mobility, cancer related fatigue, etc. as a consequence of surgical, radiotherapy and medical treatments. For example, posture appears to be frequently altered after mastectomy, due to the impairment of the mobility of the arm caused by surgical scars. All these aspects negatively affect the health-related Quality of Life (QoL) of BC patients. Recent several randomized clinical trials have shown benefits of regular and appropriate physical activity (PA) during and after BC treatment, particularly in terms of benefits for health, reducing fatigue, improving strength levels, QoL and physical function. In this context, two types of sports have demonstrated their affinity and efficacy as treatment support during and after treatments for BC patients fencing and rowing. Here we report considerations shared with two sport champions the fencing Olympic gold medal Daniele Garozzo and the rowing World Champion Giovanni Ficarra, with the aim to find the adapted PA for BC patients.