LOS ANGELES, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Therapies do not appear to hamper cardiovascular health regardless of the type of cancer, treatment, age or body mass index, a new U.S. study shows.

    The conclusion was based on a three-minute step test of 49 diverse women who had recently survived cancer, the Health Day News reported on Thursday.

    The results of the study, conducted by researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center, were to be presented later this week in Seattle at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, according to the report.

    "What's really exciting to us was that we found that cardiovascular fitness was not affected by the expected culprits --cancer treatment, type, duration or time since treatment," researcher Jennifer LeMoine, a fellow with training in exercise physiology at Georgetown University's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, said.

    "That isn't to say there aren't side effects of some treatments that may hinder physical activity, but when it comes to actual cardiovascular fitness as measured in our clinic, many of the standard treatments didn't have a role," he said.

    A third of the study participants said they lived sedentary lives, and the others described themselves as physically active. About 71 percent of the participants completed the step test, according to the study.

    "We've modified an in-clinic cardiovascular assessment tool, the three-minute step test, with the goal of finding a test that can easily and quickly be performed in a physician's office," said Dr. Priscilla A. Furth, a professor of oncology and medicine at Lombardi.

    "Having this kind of evaluation tool is critical for physicians, like me, who are interested in prescribing physical activity for this population," he noted.