A healthy lifestyle may improve survival after breast cancer diagnosis

American researchers have reported that physically active women who eat a high vegetable and fruit diet have improved survival regardless of obesity according to a study published this week in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The authors of this study followed about 1,500 women diagnosed and treated for early-stage breast cancer. The combination of eating ≥5 daily servings of vegetables and fruits plus taking regular exercise equivalent to walking 30 minutes/day per week was associated with a 44% increase in survival. In addition, there was no apparent effect of obesity on survival.

Author’s conclusions: A minority of breast cancer survivors follow a healthy lifestyle that includes both recommended intakes of vegetables and fruits and moderate levels of physical activity. The strong protective effect observed suggests a need for additional investigation of the effect of the combined influence of diet and physical activity on breast cancer survival.

Source: http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/abstract/25/17/2345