Exercise boosts cancer survival

Engaging in moderate to vigorous physical activity after a cancer diagnosis significantly reduces the risk of dying from several common cancers, including bladder, breast, colon, endometrial, kidney, lung, oral, prostate, rectal and respiratory cancers.

 

To assess whether regular exercise can improve survival odds following a cancer diagnosis, researchers analysed data from six US-based studies involving 90,844 cancer survivors, with an average age of 67 at the time of diagnosis. Participants provided information about their levels of physical activity after being diagnosed.

 

Over an average follow-up period of 11 years, 45,477 participants died.

 

Current US guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise per week. After adjusting for factors such as age, sex, race/ethnicity, smoking, alcohol use, cancer treatment and cancer stage, researchers found that meeting these exercise recommendations was linked to significantly improved survival for individuals with one of ten cancer types.

 

People who got the recommended amount of exercise lowered their risk of dying from oral cancer by 56 per cent; endometrial cancer by 50 per cent; lung cancer by 49 per cent; rectal cancer by 49 per cent; respiratory cancer by 49 per cent; bladder cancer by 47 per cent; kidney cancer by 47 per cent; prostate cancer by 40 per cent; colon cancer by 39 per cent and breast cancer by 33 per cent.

 

“The effects of cancer treatment can wear you down physically and mentally,” noted the lead author. “This can make exercise feel like a daunting task, but doing some exercise is better than doing none. Finding an exercise that you enjoy or exercising with a friend can make it more approachable.”

Health