Trial reportJournal of cancer survivorship : research and practice2013
Is it safe and efficacious for women with lymphedema secondary to breast cancer to lift heavy weights during exercise: a randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 papers, 16 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed, 16 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 168 citations in OpenAlex.
- Do Combined Resistance and Aerobic Exercise Programs Cause an Interference Effect in Women with Breast Cancer? A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of resistance training on breast cancer-related arm lymphedema: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Comparative efficacy of various physical therapies on pain, fatigue, quality of life and functional impairment in breast cancer survivors: a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Physical activity and pain in people with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Pooled it
- Comparative effects of different types of exercise on health-related quality of life during and after active cancer treatment: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.Journal of sport and health science · 2023Pooled it
- The Effect of Exercise on Pain in People with Cancer: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2023Pooled it
- Physical Activity and Health-Related Quality of Life in Women With Breast Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.JNCI cancer spectrum · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of high-intensity training on the quality of life of cancer patients and survivors: a systematic review with meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Different Methods of Physical Training Applied to Women Breast Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in physiology · 2021Pooled it
- Resistance Training in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review of Exercise Programs.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- Resistance exercise and breast cancer-related lymphedema-a systematic review update and meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2020Pooled it
- Physical activity for women with breast cancer after adjuvant therapy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- High-intensity exercise interventions in cancer survivors: a systematic review exploring the impact on health outcomes.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2018Pooled it
- Effects of resistance exercise in prostate cancer patients: a meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2017Pooled it
- The Independent Effects of Strength Training in Cancer Survivors: a Systematic Review.Current oncology reports · 2016Pooled it
- Resistance exercise and secondary lymphedema in breast cancer survivors-a systematic review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2016Pooled it
- Online-delivered resistance exercise intervention among racially diverse breast cancer survivors: Feasibility, acceptability, and exploratory outcomes of B-REP.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Trial
- Effect of exercise mode on physical function and quality of life in breast cancer-related lymphedema: a randomized trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2022Trial
- Postural differences in the immediate effects of active exercise with compression therapy on lower limb lymphedema.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2021Trial
- Low-Intensity Resistance Training and Compression Garment in the Management of Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema: Single-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2020Trial
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeResistance exercise has great potential to aid in the management of breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL); however, little is known regarding optimal exercise prescription. The pervasive view is that resistance exercise with heavy loads may be contraindicated, disregarding the dose-response relationship that exists between the load utilised in resistance exercise and the magnitude of structural and functional improvements. No previous research has examined various resistance exercise prescriptions for the management of BCRL. This study compared the effects of high load and low load resistance exercise on the extent of swelling, severity of symptoms, physical function and quality of life in women with BCRL.
methodsSixty-two women with a clinical diagnosis of BCRL (>5 % inter-limb discrepancy) were randomly assigned to a high-load resistance exercise (n = 22), low-load resistance exercise (n = 21) or usual care (n = 19) group. Participants in the experimental groups completed a 3-month moderate- to high-intensity resistance exercise program in which the load of the exercises was manipulated from 10-6 repetition maximum (75-85 % of one repetition maximum [1RM]) for the high-load group or from 20-15 repetition maximum (55-65 % 1RM) for the low-load group. Outcome measures included the extent of swelling in the affected arm, symptom severity, physical function and quality of life.
resultsThere were no differences between groups in the extent of affected arm swelling or severity of symptoms. The change in muscle strength, muscle endurance and quality of life-physical functioning was significantly greater in both high-load and low-load groups compared with the control group (p < 0.040). Change in quality of life-physical function was significantly associated with the change in symptom severity and muscle strength. No lymphedema exacerbations or other adverse events occurred during this trial.
conclusionWomen with BCRL can safely lift heavy weights during upper body resistance exercise without fear of lymphedema exacerbation or increased symptom severity. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Women with breast cancer-related lymphedema can be informed that appropriately prescribed and supervised upper body resistance exercise is safe and can aid in the management of lymphedema through improvements in physical function and quality of life.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.