Prehabilitation in Patients Undergoing Breast Cancer Surgery: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Objective: To conduct a scoping review of preoperative prehabilitation studies in breast cancer patients, and to provide reference for constructing standardized prehabilitation protocols. Methods: A systematic search was conducted across Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data, and VIP Chinese Science and Technology Periodicals Database. The search timeframe spanned from database inception to January 1, 2026. Two researchers independently completed literature screening and data extraction. Results: A total of 16 articles were included. Preoperative prehabilitation interventions primarily encompassed multimodal exercise training, individualized nutritional support, and psychological-behavioral interventions. Intervention teams were predominantly multidisciplinary in composition, with intervention settings spanning both hospital and home environments. Evaluation indicators included feasibility metrics, physical function and fitness indicators, quality of life and symptom burden indicators, breast cancer-specific outcome indicators, tumor biology/molecular mechanism indicators, psychosocial and behavioral indicators, and postoperative clinical outcomes. Conclusion: Currently, breast cancer prehabilitation is transitioning from single-modal to multimodal approaches; however, nutritional and psychological interventions remain insufficiently covered, and intervention intensity, duration, and implementation models have yet to be standardized. Multimodal prehabilitation remains in its nascent stage. Preoperative prehabilitation protocols for breast cancer patients urgently require optimization and standardization. Future efforts should strengthen patient adherence monitoring, integrate intelligent technologies, extend prehabilitation time windows, focus on precise strategies for special populations, and conduct large-sample, multicenter clinical trials to deeply explore the effectiveness and feasibility of multimodal prehabilitation.