The Case for Prehabilitation Prior to Breast Cancer Treatment

Abstract

Cancer rehabilitation in breast cancer survivors is well established, and there are many studies that focus on interventions to treat impairments as well as therapeutic exercise. However, very little is known about the role of prehabilitation for people with breast cancer. In this narrative review, we describe contemporary clinical management of breast cancer and associated treatment-related morbidity and mortality considerations. Knowing the common short- and long-term sequelae, as well as less frequent but serious sequelae, informs our rationale for multimodal breast cancer prehabilitation. We suggest 5 core components that may help to mitigate short- and long-term sequelae that align with consensus opinion of prehabilitation experts: total body exercise; locoregional exercise pertinent to treatment-related deficits; nutritional optimization; stress reduction/psychosocial support; and smoking cessation. In each of these categories, we review the literature and discuss how they may affect outcomes for women with breast cancer.