Body Composition, Metabolism and Inflammation in Breast Cancer Survivors and Healthy Age-matched Controls: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

International Journal of Exercise Science 13(3): 1108-1119, 2020. Breast cancer survivors (BCS) experience treatment induced alterations in body composition including the loss of bone mineral density (BMD) and lean soft tissue (LST). These changes can affect the metabolism and the systemic inflammatory environment of BCS. Objective: To evaluate the differences in body composition, resting energy expenditure (REE), and inflammation in BCS and age-matched women without a prior cancer diagnosis (control). Methods: Seventeen post-menopausal BCS (stages 0-III; age: 59 ± 9 years) and 18 (59 ± 6 years) controls had their total body and regional (lumbar spine, femur, and forearm) BMD, LST and fat mass measured via DXA. REE was assessed via 35 minutes of indirect calorimetry. Serum concentrations of human C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured via ELISA to assess inflammation. Data were analyzed via ANOVAs. Results: There were no significant differences between BCS and controls in body composition, metabolic measures and CRP. However, when REE was adjusted for LST, the BCS had a significantly greater REE when compared to the controls (p = 0.015). Discussion: Our findings suggest that BCS that were on average five years into survivorship appear to have similar body composition, and CRP as age-matched women without a prior cancer diagnosis, but significantly different relative REE