Dr. Friedenreich developed a multidisciplinary research program focused on the role of physical activity in the prevention and control of cancer. Her research program included observational and experimental studies that were population-based with provincial, national and international collaborators.
Dr. Friedenreich conducted three population-based case-control studies of lifetime physical activity and cancers of the breast, prostate and endometrium that used a questionnaire that she developed, tested and published entitled the Lifetime Total Physical Activity Questionnaire. She and her colleagues and conducted cohort follow-ups for each of the case groups. These studies have demonstrated the benefits of physical activity for cancer risk reduction and improved survival after these cancers.
Dr. Friedenreich led the first intervention trial of exercise for breast cancer prevention in Canada, the ALPHA Trial (Alberta Physical Activity and Breast Cancer Prevention Trial). She and her colleagues found that the year-long aerobic exercise intervention reduced biomarkers associated with breast cancer risk. Dr. Friedenreich then conducted the Breast Cancer and Exercise Trial in Alberta (BETA) that examined the effects of 150 or 300 mins/wk of aerobic exercise on breast cancer biomarkers. That trial found that higher volumes of aerobic exercise decreased body fat levels and that both moderate and high volume of exercise had beneficial effects on other biomarkers.
Dr. Friedenreich wasinvolved in numerous randomized controlled exercise intervention trials among cancer patients aimed at understanding how exercise may improve well-being, coping, rehabilitation and survival after cancer. She and her colleagues are currently conducting a population-based cohort study of physical activity, health-related fitness and breast cancer survival known as the Alberta Moving Beyond Breast Cancer Cohort Study (AMBER study) in 1528 incident breast cancer cases in Alberta. Dr. Friedenreich is also a co-investigator on the first ever randomized controlled trial of exercise for colon cancer survival being conducted worldwide known as the Colon Health and Lifelong Exercise Trial (CHALLENGE Trial).
Dr Friedenreich co-led a Pan-Canadian team that examined the current and future burden of cancer incidence associated with modifiable lifestyle and environmental risk factors in Canada in collaboration with the Canadian Cancer Society. The ComPARe study provided detailed data that has been summarized in a website and dashboard (www.preventcancer.ca) that is accessible for external knowledge users and decision makers.
The ultimate objective of Dr. Friedenreich’s research program is to provide evidence for improved public health guidelines regarding the exact type, dose and timing of physical activity that is of greatest benefit for reducing cancer risk and improving prognosis and survival after cancer. She contributed to reviewing the evidence on physical activity and cancer risk and survival for the National Institutes of Health for their 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans and for the World Health Organization’s 2020 Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour. Her research program has been very active and well-funded with collaborations worldwide for increasingly complex population health research in cancer focused on lifestyle risk factors.
Dr Friedenreich was awarded the O. Harold Warwick Prize from the Canadian Cancer Society in 2013 and elected a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2016 and the Royal Society of Canada in 2019. In 2024, Dr Friedenreich retired from Alberta Health Services and is continuing her research as an Adjunct Professor in the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary.