Move it: Exercise programs may cut colon cancer deaths

Structured exercise programs could reduce colon cancer deaths by more than a third, as researchers find a game-changing way to to treat the disease.

A study by the University of Sydney over 17 years followed 889 colon cancer patients who had undergone surgery then chemotherapy across six countries, including Australia, Canada and the UK.

After finishing chemotherapy, each person was randomly assigned either a three-year structured exercise program or a health education program promoting physical activity and healthy eating.

The structured program was tailored to each participant with a consultant to increase the amount of moderate intensity exercise to two-and-a-half hours per week on top of their usual routine for three years and beyond.

This could mean increasing to 150 minutes of brisk walking per week.

It found that those who took part in the structured exercise programs experienced significantly higher rates of long-term survival.

“This should really change the standard of care for colon cancer patients worldwide and it may even be able to be generalised to other cancer groups,” said Professor Janette Vardy, international co-chair of the study.

Researchers found 80 per cent of the participants who undertook a structured exercise program were alive after five years with no evidence of a recurrence of the cancer.

That is compared to 74 per cent in the health education only group.

“This actually equates to a 28 per cent reduction in the risk of having a cancer recurrence,” Prof Vardy said.

When researchers reviewed patient health after eight years, they found 90 per cent of exercise participants survived compared to 83 per cent in the health education group.

That equates to a 37 per cent reduction in the risk of death, Prof Vardy said.

She said the structured exercise group was only doing about 30 minutes of brisk walking five times a week but delivered a significant difference in results.

“This shows that exercise isn’t just beneficial, it can be lifesaving,” Prof Vardy said.

“Something as simple as physical activity can significantly improve life expectancy and long-term outcomes for people with colon cancer.”

Based on the results, Prof Vardy recommended that a structured exercise program should be offered to people after finishing their chemotherapy.

Patients should be brought into clinics at the end of their chemotherapy and given sessions with an exercise physiologist to be provided a tailored program, Prof Vardy said.

Currently, treatment includes health education programs instead of tailored support.

“Now we know that just telling people to go off and exercise isn’t enough because … the group that got just the education material, they were told to go and exercise,” Prof Vardy said.

“Clearly the intervention was able to really help to make that difference.”

Colon cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide and the second leading cause of cancer-related death.

In 2022, over one million people were diagnosed with the disease and over half died.

There were more than 15,000 new cases of colon cancer in Australia in 2024 with more than 5000 deaths the previous year.

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