Latest news with #recurrence
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
Dr James: Why ‘scanxiety' around cancer is common
Cancer being a most serious business inevitably evokes alarm and despondency. This might be mitigated, at least in part, by awareness of its favourable prognosis, particularly for those where it is diagnosed early. The combination of surgery to remove the tumour plus appropriate 'adjuvant' therapy should hopefully result in a complete cure in excess of 90 per cent of those with, for example, the common cancers of the bowel, prostate and breast. These excellent outcomes from 'treatment with curative intent' (as it is known) necessarily poses the question 'What next?'. Specifically, how frequently and thoroughly should doctors seek out with tests and scans the possibility it may have recurred in the small minority in whom it does? Patients' attitudes to this continuing ' routine surveillance ' are mixed. They certainly welcome the reassurance from those follow-up appointments – initially every few months and then at yearly intervals – that all is well, and the opportunity to discuss any concerns they may have. That reassurance may, however, be offset by trepidation in the weeks leading up to the appointment and particularly 'scanxiety', the apprehension that the findings of those scans might be inauspicious. 'It is all quite nerve-racking', comments a participant in a study of the phenomenon. 'Even if you are feeling fine, the fear of what might be revealed is most distressing'. While the rationale for 'routine surveillance' is entirely plausible – cancer recurrence detected before causing symptoms is likely to respond more readily to further treatment – the value of those repeat scans has recently been questioned. 'The empirical case is weak', notes Dr Gilbert Welch, commenting on the absence of the measurable benefit from the full canopy of investigations (ultrasound, bone scans, CT and MRI scans), which does not preclude the possibility they might be advantageous for some. The equivocal merits of such investigations is a common conundrum of modern medicine, but perhaps further encouragement to those 'treated with curative intent' to put their cancer diagnosis behind them and look optimistically towards the future. Coffins that inspire Many will have noted the diverting correspondence in this paper on embellishing funerals with idiosyncratic (and witty) allusions to the enthusiasms of the deceased. What more fitting tribute for a man who loved working his allotment than to bury him in his gardening clothes: or to place a jar of honey amongst the flowers on a beekeeper's coffin: or, for an adventurous climber, a compass 'to navigate his way to eternity'? Those seeking further inspiration might consider visiting the British Museum's enthralling Living and Dying gallery. Perhaps the most striking of the many exhibits are replicas of the tall, thin, elaborately decorated upright coffins of the North Australian Aborigines. The bones of the deceased painted in red ochre are broken up and placed in a tree trunk – hollowed out by termites – in which the spirit will travel to the Land of the Dead. Carvings on the exterior illustrating local landmarks ensure it will not get lost on the way, while family and friends dance around acting out the hazards that might be encountered. Following the ceremony, the coffin is left standing upright to be gradually eroded away by the elements. It is difficult to imagine a more uplifting – or ecological – send-off. A clever solution to athlete's foot Finally, my thanks to a couple of readers for passing on their experience of simple remedies for the intense itchiness of athlete's foot, where the standard antifungal creams, as a university lecturer comments, 'never work for very long'. Following his customary evening bath, he now rubs a tuft of cotton wool soaked in surgical spirit under and between his toes that keeps the skin 'a lovely healthy pink colour'. The next is an exercise in lateral thinking, the principal being that both athlete's foot and dandruff are primarily caused by a fungal infection. 'After soaking my feet in anti-dandruff shampoo for a few minutes, massaging it between the toes, the macerated skin floats away and the itching resolves', writes a Bath reader. 'Occasional supplement applications keep it in check'.
Medical News Today
4 days ago
- Health
- Medical News Today
Colon cancer: Exercise as important as drugs in preventing recurrence
Could exercise be 'better than a drug' at preventing colon cancer recurrence? Image credit: Connect Images/. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide, and the second leading cause of cancer deaths. Treatments include surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. After initial treatment, people are advised to follow a healthy lifestyle, often in conjunction with further drug treatments to try and reduce the chance of recurrence. Now, a study has found that a structured exercise program could be more effective than drug treatments in preventing colon cancer recurrence. Patients following a supervised exercise program had a 28% lower risk of recurrence, and a 37% lower risk of death from any cause than those who were not. Now, a study led by Canadian scientists has found that a structured exercise program following surgery and chemotherapy for colon cancer reduced patients' chance of cancer recurring by 28% compared with patients given only health advice. Experts have said these results suggest exercise could be 'better than a drug' at preventing colon cancer recurrence. Speaking to the Science Media Centre, David Sebag-Montefiore, MB BS, MRCP, FRCP, the Audrey and Stanley Burton Professor of Clinical Oncology and Health Research, University of Leeds, United Kingdom, who was not involved in the trial, commented that: 'This is excellent news for future patients with bowel cancer and is likely to bring additional health benefits […[ The great appeal of a structured moderate intensity exercise is that is offers the benefits without the downside of the well-known side effects of our other treatments.' All those enrolled in the trial, between 2009 and 2024, had undergone surgery for stage 3 or high-risk stage 2 colon cancer, followed by adjuvant chemotherapy to help prevent the cancer returning. They ranged in age from 19 to 84 years, with a median age of 61. Most participants had a body mass index (BMI) indicating overweight or obesity, and none exercised for more than 150 minutes per week before the trial. Researchers randomly assigned all participants to one of two groups. The exercise group — made up of 445 patients — worked with a certified physical activity consultant for 3 years. For the first 6 months the consultants saw them every week, then fortnightly for the second 6 months, and monthly for next 2 years. These participants could choose the type, frequency and intensity of aerobic exercise, but the aim was to achieve the equivalent of 3-4 brisk 45-60 minute walks a week. The health-education group (444 patients) received general health-education materials promoting physical activity and healthy nutrition in addition to standard surveillance. At a median follow-up of 7.9 years, 93 people in the exercise group and 131 in the health-education group had experienced a recurrence of their cancer, a new primary cancer, or had died. In total, 107 died from any cause — 41 in the exercise group, 66 in the health-education group. People in the exercise group did not lose weight, but saw a general improvement in physical functioning and significantly longer disease-free survival, with an annual incidence of recurrence, new primary cancer, or death of 3.7%, compared with 5.4% in the health-education group. In the exercise group, 80.3% of patients were disease-free after 5 years, compared with 73.9% of the health-education group. Lead author on the study, Kerry S. Courneya, PhD, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Physical Activity and Cancer at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, told Medical News Today that the most important finding of their study was the overall improvement in survival. Julie Gralow, MD, Chief Medical Officer of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), who was not involved in the trial, said the findings suggest that exercise could be 'better than a drug' for cancer patient outcomes, because it does not have the related side effects. However, she cautioned: 'I did not mean to suggest that we omit drugs in favor of exercise, my intention was to compare the magnitude of benefit we get from standard therapies to what exercise achieved in terms of reduction of recurrences and deaths, also taking toxicity into account.' She added that while there were effective drugs that help prevent recurrence in patients with particular mutations for colon cancer, 'exercise's benefit in colon cancer patients is not restricted to these specific mutations.' Courneya emphasized the benefits of their program: 'The 'side effects' of exercise are almost all good (fitter, stronger, less fatigue, less depression, lower [cardiovascular disease] risk, etc.). I think exercise keeps having an effect on new primary cancers and possibly other causes of death. Intervention participants were still doing more exercise than health education at years 4 and 5.' A supervised exercise program can also be much cheaper than medication. 'The [physical activity] intervention was maybe 3,000 to 5,000 [Canadian dollars] whereas it is not uncommon for some cancer drugs to be 10s of thousands and even reach 100,000,' Courneya added. Vicky Coyle, U.K. lead researcher for the trial and Clinical Professor at Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, told MNT that: 'Our study gives clear, encouraging evidence that physical activity can reduce the risk of cancer returning for some people with colon cancer. We now need to work with policymakers and healthcare providers to embed exercise into treatment plans where appropriate.' Joe Henson, PhD, Associate Professor in Lifestyle Medicine at the University of Leicester, who led exercise sessions in Leicester, U.K. for the trial, highlighted the need for support. 'Despite its proven benefits, many people still face barriers to engaging in regular exercise. This study shows how important it is to make exercise advice a routine part of cancer care and to offer people tailored support,' Henson told us. Although she emphasizes the importance of exercise to her own patients, Gralow noted that implementing exercise programs like those in this study could be difficult: 'I question whether most clinics have enough personnel to accommodate this number of visits (especially since prior observational data suggests many other cancer types — including common ones like breast and prostate cancer — benefit from exercise). I also question whether all or even most patients are willing to come in this often.' 'So,' she said, 'we need to find alternative ways to support our patients in incorporating exercise into their lives that do not require clinic visits but do provide regular support and encouragement. And we need to make sure we, the clinicians, are recommending this (a prescription for exercise!).' Colorectal Cancer Cancer / Oncology Sports Medicine / Fitness
