Respiratory Muscle Strength Training to Prevent Dyspnea in the Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer Patient Prior to Surgery"

Introduction and Challenge: The therapies required to treat breast cancer can cause side effects such as muscle weakness and breathing problems. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and some necessary breast cancer drug treatments can all contribute to a weakness in breathing function. Additionally, respiratory muscle strength and flexibility decrease in older adults as a part of the natural aging process. Unfortunately, the combination of breast cancer treatments with aging can contribute to an increase in breathing problems. Weakened breathing muscles and less chest wall flexibility leads to a decreased ability to complete normal daily activities, potentially causing increased anxiety and depression, and an overall decrease in quality of life.

Respiratory muscle strength training is an exercise that has been found to specifically focus on building the muscle strength and function of breathing. Respiratory muscle strength training is an exercise that is performed while sitting in a chair at home, for 15 minutes each day. The participant inhales into a handheld device that provides resistance during inhalation. Respiratory muscle strength training has been successfully used in other people with chronic illnesses, lung cancer, cardiac surgery, head and neck cancer, and patients preparing for surgery. Recently, it was trialed in a group of breast cancer patients after surgery, combined with aerobic exercises, with reports that the group that received respiratory muscle strength training had better outcomes. However, respiratory strength training has not yet been used on its own, as a preventative exercise before breast cancer surgery.

Methods and Action Plan: In this proposed study, the investigators plan to compare a group of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients who carry out daily respiratory muscle strength training exercises, to a group of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients who perform daily Guided Imagery. Guided Imagery has been found to improve anxiety and depression through the use of relaxing mental images designed to activate the body-mind connection. The researcher will carry out the study visits and teaching in the participant's home. The study equipment is portable, and the daily exercises can be done at home. This will help reduce the newly diagnosed breast cancer patient's burden of participating in this study. The investigator will measure respiratory strength, breathing function, diaphragm muscle thickness, chest mobility, anxiety and depression, and quality of life before and after the respiratory muscle strength training and the Guided Imagery protocols, and compare the results of the two groups. Each participant will be taught how to perform the assigned exercises, filling out exercise diaries, and talking by phone with the researcher each week for progress updates about the exercises, as well as how difficult they feel the exercises are.

Results and Main Findings: The investigators hypothesize that the individuals who perform the respiratory muscle strength exercises will find the respiratory strengthening protocol acceptable, and will have stronger breathing muscles, better breathing function, more chest mobility, thicker diaphragms, less anxiety and depression, and increased quality of life scores than those who performed deep breathing exercises, and that the Guided Imagery group may experience less anxiety and depression. The investigators anticipate that older breast cancer patients will benefit more than younger breast cancer patients after performing respiratory strength training.

Conclusion and Impact: This study will provide the opportunity to test whether respiratory strength training is acceptable to newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, and whether it protects and supports the breast cancer patient from respiratory weakness prior to surgery. These results will also allow the investigators to assess the impact of respiratory strength training on the older breast cancer patient. If successful, the next steps will include developing a larger clinical trial to test a diverse population to ensure the protocol is successful, before integrating this exercise into standard clinical practice for breast cancer patients.