The professor and coordinator of the TecnoCampus Degree in Physiotherapy, Esther Mur, has participated in the International Conference on Physiotherapy in Oncology (ICPTO 2023) held last September in Amsterdam. This event brought together the world's leading experts in oncological physiotherapy, who had the opportunity to discuss the latest research and trends in the field of oncological physiotherapy.
Mur presented the preliminary results of the Aquafit study. This project, promoted by Adamed laboratories, compares the benefits for breast cancer patients of performing therapeutic exercise on land versus exercise performed in water.
According to the TecnoCampus professor, this study has allowed us to reach different conclusions, for example, about the fatigue of patients who exercise in water. This, Mur points out, “opens up a range of possibilities for exercising.” She explains, for example, that water exercise improves arm symptoms and arm strength. The study has also shown that patients who "cannot endure the effort of exercising on land can do so in water."
The author of this study considers that these conclusions allow progress towards significant changes in improving the quality of life of cancer patients, offering new therapeutic options.
The final results of this study, which will be published shortly, also conclude that patients who do aquafit have greater adherence to exercising and staying active in their daily lives, as has been verified in the three-month follow-up of the patients. participants in the study. For these women, explains Mur, “this environment is very favorable, because they do not end up so exhausted.” She also adds that the patients “create a close relationship with each other and have the support of the physiotherapists.” “Many of these patients did not know that they could exercise,” she explains, highlighting the support they have received from physical therapy professionals.
In this sense, the professor believes that it is important to “make visible that physiotherapists have a lot to do in the field of oncology.”
Simultaneously, TecnoCampus professors and researchers Anabel Casanovas and Raquel Sebio have published the PREOPtimize study protocol in the Journal of Physical Therapy
This study, which is part of Anabel Casanovas' doctoral thesis, details the prehabilitation work in patients with breast cancer, that is, the physical preparation prior to surgical treatments. The study analyzes the impact that practicing an activity such as Nordic walking can have on this process.
According to Mur, this work contributes significantly to the understanding of how physiotherapy can improve the preparation of patients before surgical interventions, with the aim of increasing their chances of success and minimizing side effects.
The two studies promoted by the TecnoCampus highlight the outstanding role that physiotherapy can play in the prevention, treatment and recovery of patients with breast cancer. As the professor highlights, physiotherapy is consolidating its crucial role in the comprehensive approach to the disease.
