Moderate exercise can improve cancer treatment outcomes

Research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests that a moderate exercise programme could improve the success of chemotherapy treatment in oesophageal cancer patients. The study, which involved 40 oesophageal cancer patients, showed that exercise can be safely included as part of cancer treatment.
Moderate exercise was shown to reduce some of the negative effects of chemotherapy on fitness, and researchers said the findings indicated that a larger study was needed to confirm results. Standard treatment for a range of cancers, chemotherapy can have negative side effects for patients including tiredness, sickness and risk of infection.
The study looked at the impact of “prehabilitation” exercise, a guided exercise programme in which patients received regular training sessions before and during their chemotherapy treatment. The patients were compared with a group of patients of similar age and clinical status before the chemotherapy. The scientists looked at tumour samples, CT scans and immune markers from the patients. They found that those who had taken part in the exercise programme showed a better response to the chemotherapy, with their tumours shrinking more, and being more likely to be “down-graded”. Lead author of the study Andrew Davies said, “This is a small study, but a promising one, as it shows how a moderate exercise programme could help to improve the success of chemotherapy treatment. We want to confirm this effect in further studies, but conceivably this may benefit patients with other types of cancer and be a cost-effective way to improve the effectiveness of treatment.”