A new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study aims to learn whether women at high risk of breast cancer can use exercise to reduce their risk of developing the disease.

The Women in Steady Exercise Research (WISER) Sister trial will investigate two different levels of regular treadmill exercise as a possible method of breast cancer risk reduction.

According to Dr. Kathryn Schmitz, an assistant professor in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics who is leading the new study, up to 80 percent of women who carry BRCA genetic mutations will develop breast or ovarian cancer during their lives.

Often, she says, the only effective prevention method is prophylactic mastectomy or oophorectomy (ovary removal), but these choices are unacceptable to many women.

“We would like to find out if exercise could buy high-risk women time they need to more safely think through their options,” says Dr Schmitz.

“Exercise also has a number of health and stress reduction benefits that make it even more attractive for this population,” she adds.

As the study gets underway, there is also a growing body of evidence that nutritional supplements, in particular those containing vitamin D and antioxidants, may play a role in reducing the risk of developing various cancers.