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Effect of an anti-inflammatory dietary intervention on quality of life among breast cancer survivors

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Abstract

Purpose

Behavioral interventions have been used with breast cancer survivors (BCS) in cancer pain management and post-treatment quality of life (QOL) studies. We studied the effects of an anti-inflammatory dietary intervention on QOL in BCS.

Methods

One hundred fifty-three overweight and obese (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 25 kg/m2), early stage (0-III), English-speaking BCS who had completed all cancer treatment 2 or more months prior to enrollment were recruited into a two-arm randomized controlled trial with a 2 (group) by 3 (time) repeated measures design. Intervention components included six monthly food-preparation workshops and twelve motivational interviewing telephone calls. Endpoints included the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–General (FACT-G) and Breast Cancer (FACT-B), and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Repeated measures analysis using PROC MIXED in SAS version 9.4 was used.

Results

On repeated measures analysis (intent to treat), there were no differences between groups on any of the QOL outcomes except the PSS total scores. These were significantly different in the intervention group (IG; n = 76) compared to control group (CG; n = 77), showing a main effect of assignment but no effect of time and no interaction effects.

Conclusion

There was an impact on QOL as measured by the PSS between groups. The intervention reduced perceived stress at 6-month follow-up, but the effects dissipated by 12 months. Sources and stress and stress reduction should be a focus of future studies. Future research should also identify appropriate QOL measures that are sensitive to changes brought about by behavioral interventions.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Code availability

Not applicable

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Acknowledgements

We thank Savitri Singh-Carlson, RN, PhD, FAAN, and Dennis G. Fisher, PhD, for their contributions to an earlier version of this manuscript.

Funding

This research was supported by Susan G. Komen for the Cure (SAB08-0005); the National Cancer Institute (P20 CA165589); and the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio, through the NCI Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CA054174).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Population Health Sciences, Institute for Health Promotion Research, UT Health San Antonio, 7411 John Smith Dr. Suite 1000, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA

    Dorothy A. Long Parma, Edgar Muñoz & Amelie G. Ramirez

  2. Department of Health Care Administration, Center for Behavioral Research and Services, California State University, Long Beach, CA, USA

    Grace L. Reynolds

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  1. Dorothy A. Long Parma
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  2. Grace L. Reynolds
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  4. Amelie G. Ramirez
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Contributions

Amelie G. Ramirez, Dorothy A. Long Parma, and Edgar Muñoz contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by Dorothy A. Long Parma and Edgar Muñoz. Data analysis was performed by Edgar Muñoz and Grace L. Reynolds. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Dorothy A. Long Parma and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Dorothy A. Long Parma.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Not applicable.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Long Parma, D.A., Reynolds, G.L., Muñoz, E. et al. Effect of an anti-inflammatory dietary intervention on quality of life among breast cancer survivors. Support Care Cancer 30, 5903–5910 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-022-07023-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-022-07023-4

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