Exercise more effective than drugs in lowering 37% cancer deaths, 28% recurrence, shows new international trial
A groundbreaking international trial involving patients from the US, UK, Australia, France, Canada, and Israel has discovered that following a structured exercise programme after treatment can significantly lower the risk of cancer deaths by third, recurrence, or the development of a new cancer and is even more effective than drugs, The Guardian reported.
Patients who started a structured exercise program with the support of a personal trainer or health coach after finishing treatment experienced a 37% lower risk of death and a 28% reduced risk of cancer recurrence or new cancers, compared to those who received only health advice, the trial found.
The findings were revealed in Chicago at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting, the world's largest cancer conference, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. For the first time in medical history, there is clear evidence that exercise surpasses many commonly prescribed medications in preventing cancer recurrence and death, according to one of the world's leading cancer specialists.
In the trial, researchers enrolled 889 colon cancer patients from 2009 to 2023, with the majority (90%) diagnosed with stage three disease. Patients were randomly assigned to participate in a structured exercise programme (445) or to just get a healthy lifestyle booklet (444).
Patients in the exercise group met with a personal trainer twice a month for coaching and supervised workouts, later reducing to once a month, continuing this routine for a total of three years. The exercise group received coaching and support to help them reach specific exercise goals. Their weekly target was the equivalent of three to four walks lasting 45 to 60 minutes each, though patients were free to choose their preferred activities, some opted for kayaking or skiing, for example.
After five years, those in the exercise group showed a 28% lower risk of cancer recurrence or new cancers compared to the control group. After eight years, they also had a 37% lower risk of death than patients who only received the healthy lifestyle booklet.
Dr. Julie Gralow, Chief Medical Officer of ASCO and not involved in the decade-long study, described the quality of the findings as the 'highest level of evidence' and stated that they would bring about 'a major shift in recognising the importance of promoting physical activity during and after treatment.'
'We titled [the session it was presented in] As Good as a Drug. I would have retitled it Better than a Drug, because you don't have all the side-effects. It's the same magnitude of benefit of many drugs that get approved for this kind of magnitude of benefit – 28% decreased risk of occurrence, 37% decreased risk of death. Drugs get approved for less than that, and they're expensive and they're toxic. When I started three decades ago it was still the era where we'd be gentle and say, don't overdo yourself when you're on chemo. We've reversed that. I would say [exercise is] better than a drug,' The Guardian quoted her as saying.
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