Summarised by Centrist
A global clinical trial has shown that regular exercise can significantly reduce the risk of death and recurrence in colon cancer patients in the first study of its kind to prove a causal link.
After tracking 889 patients who had completed chemotherapy, researchers found that those enrolled in a structured three-year exercise programme had 28% fewer cancer recurrences and 37% fewer deaths from any cause compared with those who received only a booklet on healthy living.
“This is about as high a quality of evidence as you can get,” said Dr Julie Gralow, chief medical officer of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. “I love this study because it’s something I’ve been promoting, but with less strong evidence for a long time.”
Patients in the programme worked with personal coaches, meeting every two weeks in the first year and monthly thereafter. The focus was consistent but straightforward: walking for 45 minutes, several times a week.
Dr Christopher Booth, one of the study’s authors, called the results “astounding” and said the intervention cost “a remarkably affordable” few thousand dollars per patient. Researchers are now analysing blood samples to better understand how exercise biologically helps prevent cancer, through insulin processing, immune response, or other pathways.
Lead researcher Kerry Courneya said the findings should help patients stay motivated. “Now we can say, definitively, exercise causes improvements in survival,” Courneya said.
