BCRFA Funds UAB Research on Exercise, Gut Microbiome, and Breast Cancer: Increasing Reach to Underserved Populations (EMBRACE)

Dr. Laura Rogers, Professor in the Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), received support awarded in 2021-2022 for her research in exercise, gut microbiome, and breast cancer: increasing reach to underserved populations.

Dr. Rogers’s proposal tests the feasibility of a home-based, remote-only research protocol that is more accessible to cancer survivors unable to attend supervised exercise including but not limited to rural populations.

Understanding the impact exercise has on a cancer survivor’s gut microbiome can improve the health and well-being of cancer survivors by enhancing treatments targeting the gut microbiome. This study will also determine if exercise influences the gut microbiome differently in non-Hispanic Black (NHB) compared to non-Hispanic White (NHW) breast cancer survivors.

In the study, forty physically inactive breast cancer survivors will be randomized into 10-week conditions of home-based aerobic exercise training or standard attention control. All participants will be asked to maintain their pre-study diet and attempt to maintain their body weight while participating in the study. Assessments will occur at baseline, week 5 (mid-intervention), and week 10 (post-intervention) by videoconference platform. Study feasibility and changes in the gut microbiome will be assessed.