Dr. Ligibel on Patient Education to Avoid Breast Cancer Recurrence

Jennifer Ligibel, MD, senior physician, Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, associate professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, discusses resources available for patients to educate themselves on avoiding breast cancer recurrence.

There are a number of different organizations that create guidelines on physical activity, nutrition, and body weight management for cancer survivors, Ligibel says. For the last 10 years, the American Cancer Society has provided information on what patients should be eating and how much exercise they should get after a diagnosis. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network has also provided nutrition-based insight in its survivorship guidelines. Thirdly, ASCO has created an initiative on obesity, which is geared toward helping patients understand these connections exist. Studies have shown, Ligibel adds, that while most people are aware of tobacco/alcohol connections to cancer risk, most don’t know that obesity could have an impact.

Ligibel adds that this is important because many patients are unaware of the safe types of physical activity after undergoing months of treatment.