An Exercise Intervention to Improve Health in Postmenopausal Cancer Survivors

The proposed study will evaluate an endurance-resistive exercise intervention to attenuate the effects of menopause and cancer treatment (bone loss, increased body fat, decreased lean muscle mass, weight gain, decreased physical activity) in an at-risk population of female cancer survivors. Women with solid tumors (breast, gynecological, colo-rectal) and lymphoma who have completed primary and/or adjuvant therapy within the past three years and who are perimenopausal or early postmenopausal and any woman on an Aromatase Inhibitor will be recruited to participate in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a 12 month exercise intervention (N=75) versus a health promotion control group (N=75). The specific aims of the study are to: (1) examine the effects of an exercise intervention on bone mass (serum biomarkers, lumbar spine, hip DEXA) and body composition (whole body DEXA, weight, waist circumference), (2) examine the effect of an exercise intervention on metabolic risk factors (lipids, cholesterol, fasting glucose, insulin resistance, Hemoglobin A1-C, and blood pressure), and (3) examine the effects of an exercise intervention on functional status and cardiovascular fitness (exercise stress test).