A new study finds that regular physical activity combined with a healthy diet significantly improves survival rates for patients with early-stage breast cancer. Women in the study who consumed the recommended five or more vegetables and fruits daily and engaged in moderate physical activity had a 50 percent lower risk of death, the study authors said. This result was observed in both obese and normal weight women. Moderate physical activity was defined as exercise equivalent to thirty minutes of brisk walking per day, six days per week. “Even for overweight women, a fruit and vegetable-based diet combined with physical activity reduced their risk of dying from breast cancer by 50 percent.” Combination is key: A mix of studies that examined the effect of diet or exercise on survival in breast cancer patients, some of which concluded that the right diet or exercise benefited patients, while others concluded that there was no association between the two. A study reported by Harvard Medical School in 2005 found that three to five hours of moderate exercise a week reduced the risk of death for breast cancer patients by 50 percent. The new study from the University of California, San Diego, is the first to examine the effect of combined physical activity and diet on survival in breast cancer patients. 1,490 patients with early-stage breast cancer were surveyed by researchers between 1991 and 2000 about their diet and physical activity. They were then followed up for a mean of 6.7 years. Both obese and low-weight women reported eating at least five fruits and vegetables a day and being physically active, but the former rate was only about half that of the latter, but after excluding weight, the breast cancer-related mortality rate during the follow-up period (the researchers found) was half that of the other women in the study, including those who had a healthy diet but were not physically active and those who were physically active but were not physically active. and those who exercised regularly but did not eat at least five fruits and vegetables a day. The study focused on lifestyle: While a 50 percent reduction in mortality sounds exciting, American Cancer Society spokeswoman Dr. Debbie Saslow also noted that women are also less likely to die from early-stage breast cancer. The 10-year projected death rate for women in the study who both ate a healthy diet and exercised regularly was 7 percent, while the 10-year projected death rate for the other women in the study was about 14 percent. She added that there is a growing body of research showing the importance of lifestyle in the survival of breast cancer patients. While there are still many unanswered questions about the impact of diet and exercise on breast cancer, breast cancer survivors and women who are concerned about having breast cancer in the future should start living a healthy lifestyle immediately. “Whether a woman has breast cancer or not, she should be physically active and eat right.”