Trial reportBreast cancer research : BCR2015
Effect of weight loss, with or without exercise, on body composition and sex hormones in postmenopausal women: the SHAPE-2 trial.
Trial report in Breast cancer research : BCR, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01511276 (The Effects of Equivalent Weight Loss With or Without Exercise Training on Breast Cancer Risk Biomarkers in Postmenopausal Women), which is not on this map. Cited by 46 papers, 5 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.
The Effects of Equivalent Weight Loss With or Without Exercise Training on Breast Cancer Risk Biomarkers in Postmenopausal Women: the SHAPE-2 Study
Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 93 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of exercise interventions on breast cancer-related endogenous hormones in premenopausal and postmenopausal women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Pooled it
- Nutrition and Exercise Interventions to Improve Body Composition for Persons with Overweight or Obesity Near Retirement Age: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2023Pooled it
- Medical Nutrition Therapy Interventions Provided by Dietitians for Adult Overweight and Obesity Management: An Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Evidence-Based Practice Guideline.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2023Guideline
- The Effects of Diet and Exercise on Endogenous Estrogens and Subsequent Breast Cancer Risk in Postmenopausal Women.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2021Pooled it
- Effect of exercise and/or reduced calorie dietary interventions on breast cancer-related endogenous sex hormones in healthy postmenopausal women.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2018Pooled it
- Comparison of the effects of high-intensity interval and moderate-intensity continuous training on inflammatory markers, cardiorespiratory fitness, and quality of life in breast cancer patients.Journal of sport and health science · 2023Trial
- The Efficacy of Short-Term Weight Loss Programs and Consumption of Natural Probiotic Bryndza Cheese on Gut Microbiota Composition in Women.Nutrients · 2021Trial
- Circulating sex hormone binding globulin levels are modified with intensive lifestyle intervention, but their changes did not independently predict diabetes risk in the Diabetes Prevention Program.BMJ open diabetes research & care · 2020Trial
- Resistance training decreases plasma levels of adipokines in postmenopausal women.Scientific reports · 2020Trial
- Intensive Weight Loss Intervention and Cancer Risk in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: Analysis of the Look AHEAD Randomized Clinical Trial.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2020Trial
- Exercise type and fat mass loss regulate breast cancer-related sex hormones in obese and overweight postmenopausal women.European journal of applied physiology · 2020Trial
- Long-term weight loss maintenance, sex steroid hormones, and sex hormone-binding globulin.Menopause (New York, N.Y.) · 2019Trial
- Effect of diet with or without exercise on abdominal fat in postmenopausal women - a randomised trial.BMC public health · 2019Trial
- Physical ExeRcise Following Esophageal Cancer Treatment (PERFECT) study: design of a randomized controlled trial.BMC cancer · 2017Trial
- High-intensity Interval Training and Mindfulness Breathing Induce Hormonal, Metabolic, and Anticarcinogenic Effects in Obese Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of evidence-based integrative medicineTrial
- Exercise therapy in cancer prevention and treatment.Nature reviews. Clinical oncology · 2026Review
- The Effects of Fasting and Caloric Restriction on Reproductive Hormones: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and GRADE Assessment.Food science & nutrition · 2026Review
- Targeting metabolic dysregulation in postmenopausal breast cancer: Synergistic effects of nutrition-based interventions and exercise on molecular and cellular pathways.Cancer cell international · 2026Review
- Obesity, Bariatric Surgery, and Cancer Risk: Nutritional Perspectives and Long-Term Clinical Implications.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Longitudinal changes in metabolism-related metrics and breast cancer risk: a general population study.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2025Article
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 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionPhysical inactivity and overweight are risk factors for postmenopausal breast cancer. The effect of physical activity may be partially mediated by concordant weight loss. We studied the effect on serum sex hormones, which are known to be associated with postmenopausal breast cancer risk, that is attributable to exercise by comparing randomly obtained equivalent weight loss by following a hypocaloric diet only or mainly by exercise.
methodsOverweight, insufficiently active women were randomised to a diet (N = 97), mainly exercise (N = 98) or control group (N = 48). The goal of both interventions was to achieve 5-6 kg of weight loss by following a calorie-restricted diet or an intensive exercise programme combined with only a small caloric restriction. Primary outcomes after 16 weeks were serum sex hormones and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). Body fat and lean mass were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.
resultsBoth the diet (-4.9 kg) and mainly exercise (-5.5 kg) groups achieved the target weight loss. Loss of body fat was significantly greater with exercise versus diet (difference -1.4 kg, P < 0.001). In the mainly exercise arm, the reduction in free testosterone was statistically significantly greater than that of the diet arm (treatment effect ratio [TER] 0.92, P = 0.043), and the results were suggestive of a difference for androstenedione (TER 0.90, P = 0.064) and SHBG (TER 1.05, P = 0.070). Compared with the control arm, beneficial effects were seen with both interventions, diet and mainly exercise, respectively, on oestradiol (TER 0.86, P = 0.025; TER 0.83, P = 0.007), free oestradiol (TER 0.80, P = 0.002; TER 0.77, P < 0.001), SHBG (TER 1.14; TER 1.21, both P < 0.001) and free testosterone (TER 0.91, P = 0.069; TER = 0.84, P = 0.001). After adjustment for changes in body fat, intervention effects attenuated or disappeared.
conclusionsWeight loss with both interventions resulted in favourable effects on serum sex hormones, which have been shown to be associated with a decrease in postmenopausal breast cancer risk. Weight loss induced mainly by exercise additionally resulted in maintenance of lean mass, greater fitness, greater fat loss and a larger effect on (some) sex hormones. The greater fat loss likely explains the observed larger effects on sex hormones.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01511276 . Registered on 12 January 2012.
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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.