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Study: Is there a link between exercise and memory in breast cancer survivors?

Summary

Exercise has many health benefits, but can it also help improve memory for breast cancer survivors? This research finds that breast cancer survivors who exercised more had less fatigue and distress (anxiety, depression, stress, and/or concern about recurrence) and scored better on memory tests. (8/2/16)

Is there a link between exercise and memory in breast cancer survivors?

Relevance

This article is most relevant for People diagnosed with early stage breast cancer

Relevance Rating Details

Relevance: Medium-High

Strength of Science: Medium

Research Timeline: Human Research

Media Ratings

Did you see the media coverage of this article?

See all media ratings.

How we rated the media

Who covered this study?

The Chicago Tribune

Exercise linked to fewer memory problems in breast cancer survivors
This article rates 4.0 out of 5 stars

Tech Times

Exercise may improve stress-related memory problems In breast cancer survivors
This article rates 4.0 out of 5 stars

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Contents

At a glance                  Guidelines
Findings               In-depth                
Clinical trials Limitations
Questions for your doctor Resources


STUDY AT A GLANCE

This study is about:

Whether exercise helps memory impairment in breast cancer survivors.

Why is this study important?

Breast cancer survivors frequently report experiencing memory impairment, which is linked to depression, anxiety, and fatigue. In this study, the researchers wanted to know how exercise is related to memory impairment, and its effects in breast cancer survivors.

Study findings: 

  1. Breast cancer survivors who exercised more had less fatigue and distress (anxiety, depression, stress, and/or concern about recurrence) and scored better on memory tests.

What does this mean for me?

The researchers propose a model where more exercise leads to less fatigue and distress, which results in less memory impairment for breast cancer survivors. More work needs to be done to confirm the link between exercise and memory impairment.

Exercise provides many health benefits. According to the Centers for Disease Control (), exercise helps people to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, reduce their risk for some cancers, increase their chances of living longer, and strengthen bones and muscles, among other things. Breast cancer survivors experiencing memory impairment and its associated distress and fatigue should talk to their health care providers to see what other things they can do to improve their symptoms.

Posted 8/2/16

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Reference

Phillips SM, Lloyd GR, Awick EA, et al. “Relationship between self-reported and objectively measured physical activity and subjective memory impairment in breast cancer survivors: role of self-efficacy, fatigue and distress.” Psycho-Oncology. Published online first on July 8rd, 2016.

Disclosure

FORCE receives funding from industry sponsors, including companies that manufacture cancer drugs, tests and devices. All XRAYS articles are written independently of any sponsor and are reviewed by members of our Scientific Advisory Board prior to publication to assure scientific integrity.

This article is relevant for:

People diagnosed with early stage breast cancer

This article is also relevant for:

people with breast cancer

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IN DEPTH REVIEW OF RESEARCH

Study background:

Cancer survivors experience a number of long-term side effects that can range from physical problems to psychological and emotional issues. Researchers previously studied how memory impairment affects anxiety, depression and fatigue in breast cancer survivors. In this study, they looked at how lifestyle choices such as regular exercise affect memory impairment and the symptoms associated with it.

In the July 2016 edition of the journal Psycho-Oncology, Siobhan Phillips and her colleagues from Northwestern University and the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign published their work about the relationship between exercise and memory impairment.   

Researchers of this study wanted to know:

Can exercise help ease the symptoms associated with memory impairment (fatigue, anxiety, and/or depression) for breast cancer survivors?

Population(s) looked at in the study:

The study followed 1477 women. The women were at least 18-years-old, had been diagnosed with breast cancer, were English speaking, and had completed treatment for their cancer. The majority of the women were white (about 97%) and were diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ () or ( 1 or II) disease.  

When women enrolled in the study they took surveys that evaluated their level of physical activity, distress, fatigue, and memory impairment. They then took the same survey 6 months later. A random subset of the participants wore accelerometers to measure their activity.

Study findings: 

  1. Breast cancer survivors who exercised more had less fatigue and distress (anxiety, depression, stress, and/or concern about recurrence) and scored better on memory tests.
    • Breast cancer survivors who exercised more had higher “exercise self-efficacy” meaning they believed that they would be able to exercise either three or five times each week.
    • Breast cancer survivors who had high exercise efficacy had lower levels of fatigue and distress (depression, concerns about recurrence, perceived stress, anxiety).
    • Breast cancer survivors who had low fatigue and distress scored higher on the Frequency of Forgetting test (which included questions such as where participants had put things, directions, and names), meaning they had less memory impairment than women who had high fatigue and distress.

Limitations:

The study population of this research study was mostly white (about 97%), highly educated and had high annual household income. Because of this, the results of this study may not hold true for all women. Additionally, the researchers only had one follow-up after 6 months. More work should be done to extend this time period.

Memory impairment can also be affected by many factors in addition to exercise, so more work should be done to include diet and other psychosocial factors.

Finally, because this study used participants’ self-reported results, their reporting could be biased. Future studies should be done that include objective measures of functioning (the researchers only looked at the relationships between exercise and anxiety/fatigue, and the relationship between anxiety/fatigue and memory impairment—they did not look at function directly after exercise). Additionally, among women who had less fatigue/anxiety, it was not determined whether that was because they exercised more.

Conclusions:

The results of this study suggest that exercise may be beneficial for memory impairment in breast cancer survivors. More work needs to be done to study this relationship; however, breast cancer survivors who are not exercising should work with a health care professional to create an exercise plan, as there are many established benefits to exercising.

Posted 8/2/16

Share your thoughts on this XRAYS article by taking our brief survey.

Expert Guidelines
Expert Guidelines

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the American Cancer Society have recommendations for physical activity for cancer survivors:

  • Physical activity and exercise recommendations should be tailored to each person's abilities and preferences. 
  • People should try to engage in some physical activity daily; this may include:
    • taking the stairs.
    • walking more.
  • Each week, people should try to achieve the following: 
    • At least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, with an ideal goal of 300 minutes, 75 minutes of vigorous activity or a combination of the two.
    • Two to three sessions of strength/resistance training that include all of the major muscle groups (chest, shoulders, arms, back, core and legs). 
    • Stretch major muscle groups at least two days per week.  
  • Avoid sitting or lying down for long periods and other prolonged sedentary behavior. 

Updated: 03/08/2023

Questions To Ask Your Doctor
Questions To Ask Your Doctor

  • I am a breast cancer survivor. Which type of health care provider can I see for follow up survivorship care?
  • How often and how long should I exercise?
  • Are there any exercises I should avoid?
  • What are other things I can do to help improve anxiety, depression, and/or fatigue after breast cancer?
  • Can you refer me to a personal trainer?

Open Clinical Trials
Open Clinical Trials

The following studies focus on exercise for people diagnosed with breast cancer:

Visit our Featured Research Page and Research Search and Enroll Tool to find additional studies enrolling people with, or at high risk for cancer.

Updated: 11/03/2024

Open Clinical Trials
Open Clinical Trials

The following studies look at the management of side effects: 

Multiple cancers

Breast cancer

Colorectal cancer

Ovarian cancer

cancer

Updated: 03/11/2025

Find Experts
Find Experts

The Livestrong at the YMCA program includes a free 12-week membership and fitness training with certified exercise experts. You can search by zip code for a program near you.  

Updated: 08/18/2023

Related Resources
Related Resources

The following organizations provide resources focused on exercise and cancer. 

Updated: 09/19/2024

Related Resources
Related Resources

The following organizations have resources related to treatment side effects. 

Updated: 05/22/2024

Who covered this study?

The Chicago Tribune

Exercise linked to fewer memory problems in breast cancer survivors This article rates 4.0 out of 5 stars

Tech Times

Exercise may improve stress-related memory problems In breast cancer survivors This article rates 4.0 out of 5 stars

Oncology Nurse Advisor

Moderate-to-vigorous exercise improves subjective memory in breast cancer survivors This article rates 3.5 out of 5 stars

US News & World Report

Why breast cancer survivors should exercise This article rates 3.5 out of 5 stars

How we rated the media

Back to XRAY Home

Article Rating Details

The Chicago Tribune:  Exercise linked to fewer memory problems in breast cancer survivors
Rating: 4 Stars

  • There were no sources outside of the study who were interviewed for this media article.
  • Not all limitations of the research study were mentioned. 

Tech Times: Exercise may improve stress-related memory problems in breast cancer survivors
Rating: 4 Stars

  • There were no sources outside of the study who were interviewed for this media article.
  • Not all limitations of the research study were mentioned.  

Oncology Nurse Advisor: Moderate-to-vigorous exercise improves subjective memory in breast cancer survivors
Rating: 3.5 Stars

  • There were no sources outside of the study who were interviewed for this media article.
  • No limitations of the research study were mentioned. 

US News & World Report: Why breast cancer survivors should exercise
Rating: 3.5 Stars

  • While the research study suggests exercise may be able to help memory, more work needs to be done to say it definitively, especially since the research did not show exercise directly helped memory. Because of this, it is not accurate to say that “exercise can help [with memory problems],” like the first sentence of the media article claims.
  • There were no sources outside of the study who were interviewed for this media article.
  • Not all limitations of the research study were mentioned.  

 

 

 

Study Rating Details

Relevance: Medium-High

  • The participants of this research study were mostly white, which means that it is not known from this study if the findings would hold true for minority women.
  • This study suggests that exercise may help breast cancer survivors with their memory problems.
  • The study looked only at women with early stage (stages 0-II) breast cancer. More research will be needed to determine if this holds true for women with stage III or stage IV breast cancer.
  • However, the researchers did not look directly at exercise and its effect on memory. Because of this, it can not be definitively said that exercise does help breast cancer survivors with their memory problems.
  • Memory problems are commonly reported by breast cancer survivors, especially those who have undergone chemotherapy.
  • There are many ways that breast cancer survivors can add exercise into their weekly routine. 

Strength of Science: Medium

  • This study suggests that exercise may help breast cancer survivors with their memory problems.

  • The study was not designed to look at exercise as an intervention to improve memory. Instead, participants were asked to self-report their exercise levels. More research would need to be done to show conclusively that exercise can improve memory in breast cancer survivors. A large body of research has shown the benefit of exercise on health and wellbeing. 

Research Timeline: Human Research