The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of a home based exercise program for patients with stomach cancer who were undergoing oral chemotherapy.

The home-based exercise program was developed from the study findings of Winningham (1990) and data from the Korea Athletic Promotion Association (2007). The home-based exercise program consisted of 8 weeks of individual exercise education and exercise adherence strategy. Participants were 24 patients with stomach cancer who were undergoing oral chemotherapy following surgery in 2007 or 2008 at a university hospital in Seoul. Patients were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (11) or control group (13). The effects of the home-based exercise program were measured by level of cancer related fatigue, NK cell ratio, anxiety, and quality of life. Data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 13.0 version.

The degree of cancer related fatigue and anxiety in the experimental group decreased compared to the control group. The NK cell ratio and the degree of quality of life of experimental group increased while that of the control group decreased.

This study result indicate the importance of exercise and provide empirical evidence for continuation of safe exercise for patients with cancer during their chemotherapy.

To examine the relationship between body fat percentage (BFP) and N-K cell activity (NKCA) in Korean breast and rectal cancer patients just after diagnosis.

With 35 subjects enrolled between November 2002 and May 2003, Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis was used to estimate BFP. FACS Analysis was used to measure N-K cell activity. The relationships between BFP and NKCA were identified by using curve estimation, simple regression, and multiple regression.

The mean BFPs of the subjects and all the sub-groups were higher than acceptable BFPs. Both the mean NKCAs of male and female subjects were lower than that of healthy women. NKCA was explained by BFP with a 14.9% variance in the total subjects (p<.05). There were significant negative relationships between BFP and NKCA after controlling age, type of cancer, and stage of cancer while no significant relationship was found after controlling for gender. The relationships between BFP and NKCA in the sub-groups of female, breast cancer, and stage I, and II were significant. The relationships between male, rectal cancer, and the stage III, and VI sub-groups were not identified, but they revealed a mild to moderate steep in curve estimation.

Weight reduction could prevent the risk and advancement of breast and rectal cancer in Koreans.