Cachexia syndrome and the risk of cardiovascular diseases are highly prevalent in cancer patients.The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of endurance training as a therapeutic method on muscle cachexia and cardiovascular consequences caused by breast cancer. After 2 weeks of breast cancer induction, 20 BALB/c mice (age: 6-8 weeks and weight: 17- 18 g) mice performed the maximum aerobic capacity test and were randomly allocated into tumor-control and tumor-exercise groups. The tumor-exercise group performed the endurance Training protocol for 6 weeks, 5 days a week with gradual increase in intensity from 12 to 20 (m.min-1) and duration from 25 to 55 minutes And 24 hours after the last training session, the maximum aerobic capacity test was performed. 48 hours after the last training session, the mice were sacrificed. Heart weight, weight of gastrocnemius and soleus muscle, heart mass index, ratio of weight of soleus muscle to body weight and ratio of weight of gastrocnemius muscle to body weight were measured in tumor-control and tumor-exercise groups. Data were analyzed by independent t-test at the significance level of P≥0.05. The results of the present study showed a significant increase in heart weight (P=0.005), spleen weight (P=0.029), weight of the gastrocnemius muscle (P=0.009) and soleus muscle (P=0.022) in the tumor-exercise group compared to the tumor-control group. Also, significant increase in the heart mass index (P=0.016) and the ratio of the weight of the gastrocnemius muscle to the body weight (P=0.005) and the ratio of the soleus muscle to the body weight (P=0.021) were observed in the tumor-exercise group compared to the tumor-control group. In conclusion,Endurance training seems to be a potential treatment method and strategy to improve the health of the skeletal muscle and cardiovascular system and reduce the process of muscle cachexia caused by breast cancer.
