Breast cancer survivor perspectives on nutrition: Results of a comprehensive survey.

Abstract

e22674 Background: The majority of patients gain weight during breast cancer (BC) treatment. Weight gain is often distressing to patients and weight gain after diagnosis has been associated with worse outcomes. Previous studies have found nutrition is of interest to BC patients but there is a paucity of recent U.S. research. Therefore, we conducted an online survey of BC survivors to characterize the level of interest in and perceived importance of nutrition, current dietary habits, and perspectives on body weight. Methods: Between May 2024 and May 2025 patients diagnosed with BC in the past 10 years were recruited via the electronic medical record (EMR) at University of Rochester, flyers at the BC clinic, and email lists and social media posts of multiple BC advocacy organizations. The one-time survey was administered via REDCap. Eligibility criteria included age ≥18 years, initial diagnosis or recurrence of BC in ≤10 years, and living in the U.S. Descriptive statistics were performed to characterize respondents and their responses and chi-square tests were performed to determine if there were differences by respondent characteristics. Results: 1007 participants completed the survey. The majority were female sex (98.1%), white (92.7%), non-Hispanic (96.6%), and had early-stage BC (61.8%). Mean age was 60.2±11.6 years. Mean BMI based on self-reported weight and height was 28.7±7.0 kg/m2. 47.6% were currently receiving cancer treatment. 89.7% were recruited from the EMR and clinic flyers and 10.3% were recruited from advocacy organizations and referrals. Interest in and perceived importance of nutrition were high, with 73.1% interested or very interested since diagnosis and mean rating of importance of nutrition for those with a BC diagnosis was 8.4±1.9 out of 10. 57.4% reported dietary changes since diagnosis. A greater proportion of younger participants reported changing their diets compared to older participants (68.0% < 45, 60.6% age 45-65, and 49.7% > 65 years; p < 0.001). Despite a high proportion reporting dietary change, vegetables were consumed less than twice daily by 78.6% and fruits were consumed less than twice daily by 76.8% of respondents. 78.3% of respondents said they would like to lose weight and 52.7% reported working to lose weight in the last 30 days. 78.4% reported that their weight had not been addressed by their oncology team. Conclusions: Level of interest in and perceived importance of nutrition were high among those with a BC diagnosis. Most participants reported dietary change since diagnosis, with an even greater proportion among younger participants. Despite reporting dietary changes, fruit and vegetable intakes were largely suboptimal. Weight loss was desired, but weight was largely not addressed in the oncology setting. These findings suggest that increased emphasis on nutrition and access to nutrition services would be welcomed by BC survivors and fill a clinical need.