Health issues

All cancer sufferers must be told to exercise during treatment: Experts

May 07, 2018

Exercising could help cancer sufferers during treatment.

All cancer sufferers should be prescribed exercise to help them during treatment and reduce their risk of dying, experts have warned in a world first statement.

The Clinical Oncology Society of Australia has warned health professionals that not promoting the need for exercise to patients could be “harmful”, as it launched its position statement on the role of exercise alongside surgery and other treatments in cancer care.

The push is endorsed by a group of 25 influential health and cancer organisations, and makes exercise one of the key parts of treatment.

“Exercise is the best medicine someone with cancer can take in addition to their standard cancer treatments,” lead author, Prof Prue Cormie said in a statement.

“That’s because we know now that people who exercise regularly experience fewer and less severe treatment side-effects; cancer-related fatigue, mental distress, quality of life.”

She said the statement was based on “indisputable” evidence, and added in a first-person piece for the Conversation: “They also have a lower relative risk of cancer recurrence and a lower relative risk of dying from their cancer.”

Comparing it to other medications and treatments, Cormie said if exercise were in pill form – it would be prescribed by every medical professional, and taken by every sufferer.

“If the effects of exercise could be encapsulated in a pill, it would be prescribed to every cancer patient worldwide and viewed as a major breakthrough in cancer treatment,” she added, even saying it would be subsidised by the government if it were in pill form.

Patients were previously told to rest up and take time out from their usual daily schedule, but Cormie insisted that’s the worst possible advice now. She recommends patients do around 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, such as power walking, and two to three sessions of resistance exercise each week.

“But the exercise program should be tailored to the individual’s capability, treatment side effects and their symptoms,” she added.

Shelley Heaney, 43, told the Herald Sun she initially had trouble finding the right exercise to benefit her during radiation treatment. After spending time with a personal trainer, she began a government-subsidised “ex-med” program with exercise physiologists.

“It was just profound. I went from not being able to see to tomorrow to being able to plan ahead,” she told the publication. “The mental clarity came back and my fatigue lifted.”