Correlates of Real Time Activity During Active Breast Cancer Treatment

This is a prospective cohort study. Women will be recruited after breast cancer diagnosis and within 7 days of, neoadjuvant therapy initiation. The advantages of studying the neoadjuvant setting compared to the adjuvant (post-surgery) setting are: a) chemotherapy effects are more isolated because surgery type is not a confounder; b) treatment is generally more homogenous and c) clinical outcome data is readily available in terms of pathologic response rates. Women will begin wearing the Actigraph within 7 days of neoadjuvant chemotherapy initiation and continue wearing it until the day prior to surgery (12-24 weeks total). PROs (potential behavioral and psychosocial correlates) will be examined using a EMA measurement burst design.18 PA holds significant promise for improving health and disease outcomes during breast cancer treatment7, 19 and may be an important proxy of overall health. However, fluctuations in PA and the relationship of behavioral, psychosocial and clinical factors to these fluctuations are poorly understood. The proposed research is innovative in applying EMA methodology to objectively monitor PA in relation to potential behavioral, psychosocial and clinical correlates in real time during neoadjuvant breast cancer treatment. This study is significant because it will lead to a better understanding of PA during breast cancer treatment, guide development of more effective PA interventions and has the potential to inform clinical practice by identifying women at a greater risk for adverse outcomes for early intervention. Ultimately, this research could improve health, disease and QOL outcomes in this population.