Taking Back Control: How Exercise Intervention Leads to Healthier Hearts in Young Cancer Patients
Matters of the heart, both physical and emotional, have been examined and questioned for thousands of years. Baylor University researcher Savannah Rauschendorfer, PhD, Assistant Professor of Exercise Physiology in the Department of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation, is one of many who have taken an interest such matters—but from a unique vantage point. Rauschendorfer’s research focuses primarily on investigating the toxic side effects of chemotherapy on adolescent and young adult cancer patients. More specifically, she is examining the effects of chemotherapy on the heart.
“My goal in this work is to first identify and characterize cancer therapy-related toxicities and then find an interventional or preventative solution,” Rauschendorfer explains. “One of my first aims is to identify potential early biomarkers.”
Biomarkers are measurable substances in samples such as blood and tissue that can indicate health conditions or how a patient is responding to treatment. Rauschendorfer is hoping to discover whether it’s possible to uniquely detect individuals who are at risk of cardiotoxicity development early during treatment.
“These biomarkers can ultimately help clinicians identify patients who might develop cardiac dysfunction and lead us to the next step to address—what are the means to prevent it? I believe that exercise is ultimately a big part of that.”
Research continues to confirm the immediate and long-term health benefits of physical activity, and Rauschendorfer wants to know how those health benefits can most effectively impact the heart health of adolescent and young adult cancer patients.Through a study at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, she is looking to find the best ways exercise can be implemented into each patient’s routine. The study involves a large exercise preference survey being distributed to adolescent young adults at MD Anderson who are current cancer patients or who have been patients previously as adolescents and young adults.
“We're trying to figure out factors such as their exercise interests, how long they want to exercise for, how difficult exercise is for them during treatment, and other fitness programming variables that will allow us to gain a better perspective on how to implement exercise in their treatment plan.”
Rauschendorfer is working to match specific exercise programs with individual patients to see which types of exercise they can maintain, and if a program is not the best course, what other complementary therapies—such as nutrition intervention and medication—they might utilize. In addition to promoting heart health and helping to prevent cardiotoxicity in individuals who are receiving toxic chemotherapy, Rauschendorfer also touts the many other advantages of physical activity for this population.
“Exercise has tremendous benefits,” she expresses. “It is not just for a regular person who is looking to be healthy and fit, but it allows someone who has cancer to feel a sense of control in a situation where they feel like they have none.”
Utilizing exercise as a tool allows those she works with to take control of part of their treatment plan, even while suffering from cancer. Reflecting on her work, Rauschendorfer shares how exercise can make a lasting impact concerning matters of the heart.
“This is probably the biggest takeaway,” she explains. “While there are many things that are circumstantially out of our control and there are things that must be done to take care of the primary diagnosis, there are still things that are in a patient's control, like ways to improve your heart health, physical health, and even mental health. What we find is that when individuals exercise, they tend to have a healthier outlook on their diagnosis, their prognosis, and overall survivorship.”