Improving Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Survivors of Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer With Obesity: Adaptation and Pilot Testing of a Behavioral Weight and Symptom Management Intervention

There are close to 700,000 survivors of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer (aged 15 to 39 at diagnosis) in the US. Advances in treatment have yielded five year survival rates of >80% suggesting that the majority of AYAs will become long-term cancer survivors. While trends in survival are encouraging, the survivorship trajectories for AYAs are complicated by long-term and late-effects. Cardiovascular disease (CVD), in particular, is a leading cause of death for cancer survivors and is a growing public health concern for survivors diagnosed as AYAs. AYA cancer survivors have more than a two-fold risk of CVD when compared to age-matched peers and are at significantly greater risk of cardiac mortality. Risk of CVD may be associated with treatment exposures and may be potentiated by weight gain and poor health behaviors. Healthy eating and physical activity are key behaviors for weight loss and maintenance and may be protective against CVD risk. Adolescence and young adulthood are important developmental periods for the establishment of lifelong healthy behaviors, yet few AYA cancer survivors adhere to recommended guidelines for healthy eating or activity. Moreover, they report struggling to identify and maintain strategies to manage diet, improve nutrition, and increase activity. AYA survivors' efforts to engage in positive health behaviors (i.e., adhere to exercise and nutrition recommendations) necessary to manage weight may also be challenged by persistent cancer-related symptoms (i.e., pain, fatigue, psychological distress). Thus, weight gain is common, with >50% of AYA survivors classified as overweight or obese. Interventions for AYAs with obesity that aim to lower CVD risk through weight management, however, are rare and do not address symptoms that challenge healthy eating and activity despite recognition of the importance of improving health behaviors and symptom management in AYAs' transition to survivorship. The PI recently developed and evaluated a 12-session, in-person behavioral weight and symptom management intervention for breast cancer survivors with obesity and their intimate partners. Based on input from AYA cancer survivors, this intervention was adapted for AYA cancer survivors with obesity to produce an intervention responsive to AYAs' unique needs. A pilot RCT will be conducted to examine intervention feasibility and acceptability as well as patterns of change in outcomes. N=36 AYAs will be randomized to the intervention or education control arms. The protocol will be delivered via videoconferencing over 8 sessions. Assessments will be completed at baseline and post-treatment. AYAs will be weighed, have their blood pressure taken, complete a blood draw, and respond to self-report measures (e.g., symptoms, symptom interference, diet, activity). Weight and body mass index (BMI) will be assessed. Other CVD risk factors to be assessed include blood pressure, cholesterol (total, HDL, LDL), HbA1c, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk score.