Can Exercise Improve Insomnia in Patients Being Treated for Breast Cancer? Researchers Aim to Find Out

By: Lauren Velentzas
Posted: Monday, August 14, 2023

Although insomnia has been reported by up to 70% of patients with breast cancer during and after treatment, its symptoms are often underscreened and underdiagnosed. In the FATSOMCAN study, Elsa Curtit, MD, of the University of Franche-Comté, Besançon, France, and colleagues are studying the potential of aerobic exercise as a feasible option for patients who experience insomnia during chemotherapy for nonmetastatic breast cancer. The multicenter, randomized clinical trial will evaluate the effectiveness of a physical activity program in minimizing insomnia, sleep disturbances, anxiety/depression, fatigue, and pain.

“Sleep disturbances need to be thought of as part of the symptom cluster often associated with breast cancer,” explained the investigators in BMC Cancer. “The more symptoms within the symptom cluster the patients experience before the start of chemotherapy, the worse the symptoms they experience during chemotherapy.”

The program is designed to last 12 weeks, during which study participants will take part in moderate- to high-intensity physical activity for 45 minutes three times per week. The study began enrollment in February 2021 and has been recruiting patients with breast cancer from six hospitals in France to be randomly placed in the training or control group. A baseline assessment will be carried out using questionnaires, home polysomnography, and 7-day actigraphy, coupled with completion of a sleep diary. These assessments will be repeated at the end of the training program as well as at a 6-month follow-up.

The primary endpoint of the study is a reduction in insomnia, assessed by an increase in total sleep time. Secondary endpoints include a decrease in insomnia severity; an improvement in sleep quality; a decrease in anxiety, depression, pain, fatigue, and inflammatory variables; and an enhancement of cardiorespiratory fitness.

“If shown to be effective, exercise intervention programs could be welcome addition to the standard program of care offered to patients with breast cancer,” the investigators commented.

Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.

BMC Cancer

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