Breast cancer couldn’t stop Dianne Miller from becoming the strongest she has ever been. In fact, the devastating disease is what drove her to pump some iron.
After a lumpectomy for Stage 1 cancer in 2023, the 68-year-old from Ligonier didn’t require chemotherapy but opted into a weightlifting study offered through Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute.
“It’s amazing how strong I became,” Miller said. “I can push 185 pounds on a sled.
“This program empowered me through my recovery and beyond.”
An emphasis on fitness has become a key component of regional oncology centers because of newly uncovered benefits of strength training.
UPMC, for example, offers a program at its flagship Hillman Cancer Center in Shadyside. That space includes aerobic, resistance, balance and mobility equipment.
Independence Health System partners with Hillman to offer personalized fitness programs for people in any stage of cancer treatment.
The Exercise Oncology Program that Miller participated in is unique because it’s run more like a normal gym. The AHN Cancer Institute Exercise Oncology and Resiliency Center, where Miller attended classes, is housed in a 5,000-square-foot fitness center at AHN Suburban in Bellevue. It is led by radiation oncologist Dr. Colin Champ.
A Kennedy Township native, Champ established the program in 2022 and says it has grown from a handful of patients to a network of 500 in three years.
His research targets the interaction among diet, exercise and metabolism, assessing whether weight training and functional exercise can improve cancer-specific outcomes for patients.
“There is a lot of data that shows people who gain muscle mass have a higher chance of cure,” Champ said. “These people are less depressed, less anxious.
“The data is compelling: Cancer patients that aren’t losing muscle are living longer.”
The Journal of Clinical Oncology cites studies that show progressive weightlifting, particularly for breast cancer patients, can reduce the incidence of muscle deterioration compared with usual care.
In addition to improved strength and endurance, lifting can lead to better body composition and reduced cancer-related fatigue, a common side effect of treatment, according to the PA Breast Cancer Coalition. Most critical is the potential for reduced recurrence, the group’s website says.
A clinical study published in June by the Journal of the American Medical Association supports the link between intense resistance training and the prevention of lymphedema, or swelling, which occurs in nearly 40% of cancer patients.
A three-month study of 115 breast cancer patients, with an average age of 54, showed that participants who engaged in progressive weight resistance training three times a week had success with reduced swelling. That’s important for cancer recovery because fluid buildup can increase risk of infection, cause pain and restrict movement.
Lean mass significantly increased after resistance training, and the edema index (extracellular water to total body water ratio) improved in all patients, the study said.
Similarly, medical oncologist Jennifer Ligibel, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, told ABC News in 2024 that resistance training and weightlifting can stave off lymphedema.
A 2009 University of Pittsburgh study, Physical Activity and Lymphedema, recruited 288 breast cancer survivors for monitored sessions to test the safety of weightlifting after cancer surgery. Results showed a reduction in lymphedema flare-ups by 50%.
Nearly 100 clinics across the country offer a cancer treatment-specific workout, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Champ helped establish a center in Florida, but he said the AHN program’s resemblance to a typical gym is what makes it unique. Patients who complete there time there are likely to continue to exercise on their own at another gym.
“We are the only center with certified strength and conditioning specialists and a team of physicians involved and on the floor with patients,” he said.
AHN cancer patients, both men and women, can opt in for free for the first three months. Cost is $200 a month afterward. Grants are available to patients experiencing financial difficulties.
Workouts can be done during chemotherapy and radiation and are ramped up or down to accommodate a person’s strength, Champ said.
For Miller, any surgery-related weakness was overpowered by desire.
“You make yourself get chemo,” she said. “You want to go work out.”
After a November surgery and post-care that lasted into December, Miller said she was cleared by her physician to hit the gym in early January.
“I never felt a lump. My doctor didn’t see it. It was the mammogram that alerted me that anything was amiss,” she said. “I never felt sick prior to my surgery, and I felt pretty OK going to the gym for the first time, other than the emotional stuff you deal with.”
Pumping iron
On any given day, the fitness center resembles the inside of a Planet Fitness. People hoist dumbbells above their heads and perform Hex Bar dead lifts. Trainers huddle around, helping with form and breathing.
For Miller, the experience provided an intimacy that buoyed her perseverance. She enjoyed chatting with trainers and peers who encouraged her well-being.
“The first session, Dr. Champ talked about an 80-year-old who can lift 140 pounds,” Miller said. “There was a camaraderie there that I wanted to be part of.
“Being in a more physically fit place, your thinking gets clearer. Your emotional state is enhanced.”
Champ, certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, said patients usually wave off initial discomfort because they’re getting hooked on feeling better.
“Those who have never exercised or done significant resistance training were suspect at first, until they saw the improvements they were experiencing,” he said.
The bulk of participants in the weightlifting program are breast cancer patients, women from their 30s to 60s, all going through the same journey.
“They are devastated with their diagnosis, but this shows them that they have the keys to take control. It’s not just us hitting them with chemo and radiation,” Champ said. “We have medical oncologists that say, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing.’ These patients are not depressed, they’re not anxious. The results are incredible.”
Not just for breast cancer
David Bartlett, surgical oncologist and chair of AHN’s Cancer Institute, said the findings support the safety and potential benefits of consistent exercise routines for breast cancer survivors while also challenging the “preconceived concepts of strength training among this patient population.”
And weightlifting isn’t just for breast cancer patients.
This month, research was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Conference and published in the New England Journal of Medicine that demonstrated structured exercise helped colon cancer survivors live longer and reduced their odds of relapse. It was funded by the Canadian Cancer Society and others.
Nearly 900 patients with Stage 2 or 3 colon cancer participated in the study. Their average age was 61.
According to the results, patients in the structured exercise program had a 28% lower risk of recurrence or new cancers developing than patients who only received health education materials.
“There’s a cohesiveness to this program,” Champ said. “If you send patients home and tell them to exercise, there’s a chance that nothing happens. We need to make this part of the treatment.”
For Miller, stopping exercise wasn’t an option when her study ended. She continues weightlifting at her local YMCA. She has been cancer-free for two years.
“When you have cancer, it’s a lot about what’s being taken away from you. They’re trying to get the tumor out. Everything is about bombarding your body with chemo and other treatments,” she said. “The exercise oncology program is the exact opposite. It builds your body so it can do the work.
“I’m grateful for what the medicine can do, but this is something I can do. This empowered me and gave me control.”
Tawnya Panizzi is a TribLive reporter. She joined the Trib in 1997. She can be reached at tpanizzi@triblive.com.
