title: The Alberta moving beyond breast cancer (AMBER) cohort study: a prospective study of physical activity and health-related fitness in breast cancer survivors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Limited research has examined the association between physical activity, health-related fitness, and disease outcomes in breast cancer survivors. Here, we present the rationale and design of the Alberta Moving Beyond Breast Cancer (AMBER) Study, a prospective cohort study designed specifically to examine the role of physical activity and health-related fitness in breast cancer survivorship from the time of diagnosis and for the balance of life. The AMBER Study will examine the role of physical activity and health-related fitness in facilitating treatment completion, alleviating treatment side effects, hastening recovery after treatments, improving long term quality of life, and reducing the risks of disease recurrence, other chronic diseases, and premature death.
  
  
  METHODS
  The AMBER Study will enroll 1500 newly diagnosed, incident, stage I-IIIc breast cancer survivors in Alberta, Canada over a 5 year period. Assessments will be made at baseline (within 90 days of surgery), 1 year, and 3 years consisting of objective and self-reported measurements of physical activity, health-related fitness, blood collection, lymphedema, patient-reported outcomes, and determinants of physical activity. A final assessment at 5 years will measure patient-reported data only. The cohort members will be followed for an additional 5 years for disease outcomes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The AMBER cohort will answer key questions related to physical activity and health-related fitness in breast cancer survivors including: (1) the independent and interactive associations of physical activity and health-related fitness with disease outcomes (e.g., recurrence, breast cancer-specific mortality, overall survival), treatment completion rates, symptoms and side effects (e.g., pain, lymphedema, fatigue, neuropathy), quality of life, and psychosocial functioning (e.g., anxiety, depression, self-esteem, happiness), (2) the determinants of physical activity and health-related fitness including demographic, medical, social cognitive, and environmental variables, (3) the mediators of any observed associations between physical activity, health-related fitness, and health outcomes including biological, functional, and psychosocial, and (4) the moderators of any observed associations including demographic, medical, and biological/disease factors. Taken together, these data will provide a comprehensive inquiry into the outcomes, determinants, mechanisms, and moderators of physical activity and health-related fitness in breast cancer survivors.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. kerry.courneya@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: Kerry S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Courneya
authors.forename: Jeff K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Vallance
authors.forename: S Nicole
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Culos-Reed
authors.forename: Margaret L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: McNeely
authors.forename: Gordon J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Mackey
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yasui
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Charles E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Matthews
authors.forename: David Cw
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: Christine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Friedenreich
mesh_terms: D000416:Alberta; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D010809:Physical Fitness; D011788:Quality of Life; D012107:Research Design; D057566:Self Report; D017741:Survivors