Two-year follow-up after a six-week high-intensity training intervention study with breast cancer patients: physiological, psychological and immunological differences

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flowchart of Intervention study and Follow-up including participant number, performed training method and data collection time points. Only data collected from participants that participated at all data collecting time points during Intervention study and Follow-up were included into the analysis: Pre-intervention (PRE), post-intervention (POST), one year post-intervention (T12) and two years post-intervention (T24). HIT/HIRT: high-intensity interval endurance and strength training; MICT: moderate-intensity continuous training; IG: intervention group; CG: control group; ⩒O_2peak: peak oxygen consumption; 1RM = one-repetition maximum test; HADS-D: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.

Table 1. Anthropometric data, medical treatments and physical activity of the female intervention group and control group during the original intervention study and during the 24-month follow-up period.

	Intervention-group (n = 10)				Control-group (n = 9)
	(arithmetic mean ± SD)				(arithmetic mean ± SD)
age [years]	58.7 ± 8.4				58.8 ± 6.6
Menopausal status (pre/peri/post)	2 / 3 / 5				2 / 1 / 6
body height [cm]	162 ± 6				164 ± 8
	PRE	POST	T12	T24	PRE	POST	T12	T24
body mass [kg]	69.8 ± 10.7	68.9 ± 10.6	70.2 ± 11.3	70.3 ± 11.0	73.8 ± 11.9	73.6 ± 12.3	72.5 ± 11.8	72.2 ± 12.1
waist-to-height ratio	0.53 ± 0.05	0.52 ± 0.05	0.53 ± 0.06	0.56 ± 0.07	0.53 ± 0.05	0.54 ± 0.05	0.56 ± 0.06	0.56 ± 0.05
Kind and count of medical treatment during study periods
Treatment	PRE	PRE-POST	POST-T12	T12-T24	∑ POST-T24	PRE	PRE-POST	POST-T12	T12-T24	∑ POST-T24
surgery	8	–	4	–	4	9	–	1	–	1
chemotherapy	9	2	1	–	1	5	1	1	–	1
radiation therapy	4	–	3	–	3	6	1	1	1	2
hormonal therapy	8	8	3	1	4	8	8	1	2	3
high daily physical activity^a	8	8	4	5		8	8	6	5

^aAdjusted activity score ≥ 74; The adjusted activity score (AAS) is calculated by counting how many activities with lower values than the maximum activity score (MAS) the respondent has ‘‘stopped doing’’ and subtracting this from the MAS. AAS maximum = 94 [26,27]. SD: standard deviation. Neither body mass nor waist-to-height-ratio differed over time. The values in bold are summed values of 2 years follow up.

Figure 2. Aerobic capacity and strength of intervention and control group during Intervention study and Follow-up. (A) Observed increase of ⩒O_2peak at POST in IG compared to PRE could not be observed at T12 and T24. ⩒O_2peak of CG significantly increased from to PRE to T24. (B) Normalized Mean 1RM (starting point PRE = 100%) of IG increased at POST, decreased significantly at T12 but remained increased regarding PRE during Follow-up. Significant differences to PRE could be measured at POST and T24 for CG with increased values.

Figure 3. Anxiety and Depression scores for intervention and control group assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-D). (A) Anxiety (Arbitrary Units, AU) experienced by IG decreased after PRE and remained significantly reduced at T12 and T24. Anxiety in CG did not differ over all-time points. (B) Depression (AU) determination revealed decreased scores for IG at POST and T24 compared to PRE. CG values remained unchanged.

Figure 4. Neopterin, high-sensitive C-reactive protein and leucocyte concentration as markers for the immunological and inflammatory status. (A) Neopterin did not differ at all-time points for IG and CG. (B) HsCRP concentration of IG decreased at POST but did no longer differ at T12 and T24 compared to PRE. CG hsCRP concentration did not show any differences at all-time points. (C) Leucocyte concentrations for IG and CG showed no difference at all-time points.

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Data availability statement

Raw data were generated at Ulm University Hospital, Division of Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine. Derived data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author (S.V.W.S) on request.