A groundbreaking trial has found that exercise can slash the risk of people with cancer dying by a third, with the findings hailed as “exciting” by health chiefs.
The research, which involved patients in six countries, also found that exercise can reduce the risk of cancer developing or returning, and can be more effective than medication.
Health experts say the findings will lead to “a major shift” in understanding the importance of encouraging physical activity during and after treatment, with health chiefs describing exercise as a “no-brainer” that should be implemented broadly.
The trial is the first of its kind to demonstrate the benefits of exercise following a cancer diagnosis, after years of doctors recommending a healthy lifestyle to reduce the risk of developing cancer.
- Exercise lowering mortality risk is misleading
- Bone loss in older women reduced by exercise and a Mediterranean diet
- Wearable activity trackers improve exercise levels among people with type 2 diabetes
The key findings from the trial include a 37% lower risk of dying for patients who started a structured exercise programme with a personal trainer after finishing treatment. The team behind the trial also reported a 28% reduced risk of recurrent or new cancers developing, when compared with those patients who only received health advice and did not take part in the exercise programme.
Dr Julie Gralow, the chief medical officer of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco) who was not involved in the trial, included the findings at Asco’s annual meeting, which is the world’s largest cancer conference.
She said: “We titled [the session it was presented in] As Good as a Drug. I would have retitled it Better than a Drug, because you don’t have all the side-effects.
“It’s the same magnitude of benefit of many drugs that get approved for this kind of magnitude of benefit – 28% decreased risk of occurrence, 37% decreased risk of death. Drugs get approved for less than that, and they’re expensive and they’re toxic.
“When I started three decades ago it was still the era where we’d be gentle and say, don’t overdo yourself when you’re on chemo. We’ve reversed that. I would say [exercise is] better than a drug.”
While the trial only included people with colon cancer, experts say the findings could be applied to other types of cancers, saying the results could alter treatment practices worldwide.
The trial involved 889 people with colon cancer between 2009 and 2023, with 90% of the group having stage three of the disease. Half of the group were allocated an exercise programme and the other half were just given a booklet on maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
The exercise programme saw patients working with a personal trainer twice a month and then once a month later on for three years. They were given exercise goals, with a weekly target of the equivalent of three to four walks of between 45 and 60 minutes.
- Health improved by adding 5 minutes of daily eccentric exercise
- Study finds people feel time slows down during intense exercise
- Dementia risk reduced by exercise
Lead author of the study, Dr Christopher Booth from Queen’s University in Canada, said: “As oncologists, one of the most common questions we get asked by patients is ‘what else can I do to improve my outcome?’
“These results now provide us with a clear answer: an exercise programme that includes a personal trainer will reduce the risk of recurrent or new cancer, make you feel better and help you live longer.”
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, the national medical director of NHS England, commented: “These landmark findings suggest that focused steps to exercise, from walks to workouts, could help turbocharge the body’s ability to prevent cancer returning after treatment and help save more lives.
“Being more active can have significant benefits in helping maintain a healthy weight, strengthen the immune system, reduce inflammation and lift mood – and it’s now really encouraging to see that exercise really could have the power to help more people survive cancer.”
