Cardiac Rehabilitation for Breast Cancer Survivors

Women with breast cancer treated using anthracyclines and/or trastuzumab are at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) following treatment completion. Exercise is known to reduce CVD risk in healthy and several clinical populations, but, whether existing cardiac rehabilitation programs can be leveraged to reduce CVD risk in breast cancer survivors is unknown. This study aims to: i) understand the feasibility of virtual versus in-person cardiac rehabilitation in breast cancer survivors; and ii) compare the effect of virtual versus in-person cardiac rehabilitation on cardiovascular function and injury biomarkers, physical fitness, and psychosocial health. 50 breast cancer survivors with increased CVD risk will be recruited and randomized to either the in-person or virtual arm of the cardiac rehabilitation program at Women's College Hospital (WCH). Data will be collected at baseline, following program completion, and 6-months after program completion. The primary outcomes are measures of study feasibility. Other clinically relevant outcomes to be collected include: i) imaging and blood-based biomarkers of cardiovascular function; ii) physical fitness; iii) objective and self-reported physical activity levels; and iv) self-reported measures of psychosocial wellbeing. These findings will be used to inform the design of a larger-scale cardio-oncology trial and will facilitate development of more comprehensive CVD risk management strategies for breast cancer survivors at WCH.