Exercise 'better than drugs' to stop cancer returning

Exercise can reduce the risk of cancer patients dying by a third, stop tumours coming back and is even more effective than drugs, according to the results of a trial that could transform global health guidelines.

- Andrew Gregory

For decades, doctors have recommended adopting a healthy lifestyle to lower the risk of developing cancer.

But until now little evidence has existed of the impact it could have after diagnosis, with little support for incorporating exercise into patients' routines.

The landmark trial involving patients from the US, the UK, Australia, France, Canada and Israel found that a structured exercise regime after treatment could reduce the risk of dying and the chances of the disease returning or a new cancer developing.

The results were presented 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, clear evidence was discovered that exercise was even better at preventing cancer recurrence and death than many of the drugs prescribed to patients, one of the world's leading cancer doctors said.

Dr Julie Gralow, the chief medical officer of Asco, who was not involved in the decade-long study, said the quality of its findings was the "highest level of evidence" and would lead to "a major shift in understanding the importance of encouraging physical activity during and after treatment".

Patients who began a structured exercise regime with the help of a personal trainer or health coach after they had completed treatment had a 37% lower risk of death and a 28% lower risk of recurrent or new cancers developing, compared with patients who received only health advice, the trial found.