Exercise Therapy to Improve Cardiovascular Health in Post-Menopausal Women After Treatment for Early Stage Breast Cancer

Eligibility Criteria

• * Aged 21-80 years
• * Female
• * Surgically resected early stage (I-III) primary breast cancer
• * Post-menopausal, defined as one of the following:
• * Age ≥ 45 with no menses for at least 2 years
• * Chemically and/or surgically induced menopause through ovarian suppression, as determined by the primary oncologist
• * Estradiol level of ≤30 pg/mL
• * An interval of at least one year, but no more than five years, following the full completion of definitive therapy for malignant disease. Definitive therapy is defined as:
• * Surgery plus radiation
• * Surgery plus chemotherapy
• * Surgery plus trastuzumab
• * Exercise intolerance (i.e., patients must have a VO2peak below the predicted for active age and sex-matched individuals. (+/- the technical error of 1.32 mL/kg/min)\].
• * Able to complete an acceptable baseline CPET, in the absence of high-risk ECG findings or other inappropriate response to exercise as determined by the PI, as defined by any of the following criteria:
• * Achieving a plateau in oxygen consumption, concurrent with an increase in power output;
• * A respiratory exchange ratio ≥ 1.10;
• * Attainment of maximal predicted heart rate (HRmax) (i.e., within 10 bpm of age-predicted HRmax \[HRmax = 220-Age\[years\]);
• * Volitional exhaustion, as measured by a rating of perceived exertion (RPE) ≥ 18 on the BORG scale
• * Willingness to comply with all study-related procedures.
• * Any of the following absolute contraindications to cardiopulmonary exercise testing:
• * Acute myocardial infarction within 3-5 days of any planned study procedures
• * Unstable angina
• * Uncontrolled arrhythmia causing symptoms or hemodynamic compromise
• * Recurrent syncope
• * Active endocarditis
• * Acute myocarditis or pericarditis
• * Symptomatic severe aortic stenosis
• * Uncontrolled heart failure
• * Acute pulmonary embolus or pulmonary infarction within 3 months of any planned study procedures
• * Thrombosis of lower extremities
• * Suspected dissecting aneurysm
• * Uncontrolled asthma
• * Pulmonary edema
• * Respiratory failure
• * Acute non-cardiopulmonary disorders that may affect exercise performance or be aggravated by exercise (e.g., infection, renal failure, thyrotoxicosis)
• * Presence of any other concurrent, actively treated malignancy
• * History of any other malignancy treated within the past 3 years (other than non-melanoma skin cancer)
• * Presence of distant metastatic disease (i.e., stage IV)
• * Room air desaturation at rest ≤ 85%
• * Mental impairment leading to inability to cooperate.
• * Any other condition or intercurrent illness that, in the opinion of the investigator, makes the participant a poor candidate for the trial.