Exercise boosts survival rates in colon cancer patients, study shows

By CARLA K JOHNSON A three-year exercise activity improved survival in colon cancer patients and kept sickness at bay a first-of-its-kind international experiment displayed Related Articles RFK Jr says autism destroys families Here s what those families want you to know Even a little daily activity helps heart attack survivors Analysis German Shepherd has problems with pancreas FDA approves Moderna s new lower-dose COVID- vaccine Prisons routinely ignore guidelines on dying inmates end-of-life choices With the benefits rivaling several drugs experts explained cancer centers and insurance plans should consider making exercise coaching a new standard of care for colon cancer survivors Until then patients can increase their physical activity after medicine knowing they are doing their part to prevent cancer from coming back It s an extremely exciting assessment declared Dr Jeffrey Meyerhardt of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute who wasn t involved in the research It s the first randomized controlled trial to show a reduction in cancer recurrences and improved survival linked to exercise Meyerhardt reported Prior evidence was based on comparing current people with sedentary people a type of survey that can t prove cause and effect The new assessment conducted in Canada Australia the United Kingdom Israel and the United States compared people who were randomly selected for an exercise venture with those who instead received an educational booklet This is about as high a quality of evidence as you can get explained Dr Julie Gralow chief diagnostic officer of the American Society of Clinical Oncology I love this scrutiny because it s something I ve been promoting but with less strong evidence for a long time The findings were featured Sunday at ASCO s annual meeting in Chicago and published by the New England Journal of Medicine Academic research groups in Canada Australia and the U K funded the work Researchers followed patients with treatable colon cancer who had completed chemotherapy Half were given information promoting fitness and nutrition The others worked with a coach meeting every two weeks for a year then monthly for the next two years Coaches helped participants find strategies to increase their physical activity Numerous people including Terri Swain-Collins chose to walk for about minutes several times a week This is something I could do for myself to make me feel better noted Swain-Collins of Kingston Ontario Regular contact with a friendly coach kept her motivated and accountable she disclosed I wouldn t want to go there and say I didn t do anything so I was constantly doing stuff and making sure I got it done After eight years the people in the structured exercise campaign not only became more current than those in the control group but also had fewer cancers and fewer deaths from any cause There were more muscle strains and other similar problems in the exercise group When we saw the results we were just astounded disclosed research co-author Dr Christopher Booth a cancer medical expert at Kingston Vitality Sciences Centre in Kingston Ontario Exercise programs can be offered for several thousand dollars per subject Booth stated a remarkably affordable intervention that will make people feel better have fewer cancer recurrences and help them live longer Researchers collected blood from participants and will look for clues tying exercise to cancer prevention whether through insulin processing or building up the immune system or something else Swain-Collins coaching undertaking ended but she is still exercising She listens to music while she walks in the countryside near her home That kind of behavior change can be achieved when people believe in the benefits when they find procedures to make it fun and when there s a social component disclosed paper co-author Kerry Courneya who studies exercise and cancer at the University of Alberta The new evidence will give cancer patients a reason to stay motivated Now we can say definitively exercise causes improvements in survival Courneya mentioned The Associated Press Medical and Science Department receives sponsorship from the Howard Hughes Physiological Institute s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation The AP is solely responsible for all content