Researchers Suggest New 'Standard of Care' for Cancer

A major new international study has the potential to reshape cancer care with a relatively simple suggestion: regular exercise. The study, which tracked nearly 900 colon cancer patients in the US and five other countries for up to eight years, found that cancer survivors who followed a modest exercise regimen survived longer, reports the Guardian. While doctors have long advocated exercise as a way to ward off cancer, this is the first substantive research suggesting that it can help keep the disease at bay after diagnosis.

• "We now have definitive evidence that exercise is not just an intervention for quality of life and fitness," said Dr. Christopher Booth of Queen's University in Canada, senior author of the paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine. "This is an intervention that improves survival and should be standard of care," he said, per the New York Times.
• "It's an extremely exciting study," Dr. Jeffrey Meyerhardt of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, who was not involved in the research, tells the AP.
• Subjects in the study had stage 3 colon cancer, or advanced stage 2, and had completed chemotherapy. Half were assigned a structured, long-term exercise plan with coaching; the other half received only general health advice.
• Patients who exercised regularly had a 37% lower risk of dying and a 28% lower risk of their cancer returning or a new cancer developing, compared to those who did not follow a formal plan. Researchers say the effect size is on par with, or exceeds, many widely approved drugs—minus common side effects.
• The trial required participants in the exercise group to work with personal trainers, starting with bi-monthly coaching and supervised sessions, tapering to monthly check-ins over three years. The standard was the equivalent of three to four walks per week, each lasting 45 to 60 minutes, though patients could choose other activities.
• One practical application might be getting insurance plans to cover the cost of a personal trainer, per the AP. While the study focused on colon cancer, researchers say the results likely apply to other types of cancer.