Exercise and Colon Cancer Survival
Learn about exciting research that shows exercise improves colon cancer survival. It really is true: It's never too late to benefit from regular exercise.
Why Exercise Still Matters
Many cancer survivors skip over cancer prevention articles thinking, "This doesn’t apply to me, I’ve already had cancer." Nothing could be further from the truth. Even after diagnosis, it's not too late to benefit from exercise.
A pair of studies published in 2006 looked at exercise and the health of colon cancer survivors. Both studies give unequivocal support to the idea that staying active after colon cancer can keep you healthy, and more importantly, cancer-free.
In a study of women with stages I-III colon cancer, the women who engaged in moderate physical activity (fast walking or more) six days per week for about an hour per day reduced their risk of colon cancer-related death by 61%, when compared with women who rarely exercised. Also exciting is that even if the women did not exercise before diagnosis, if they started after they reduced their risk of colon cancer-related death by 52%, establishing that it’s never too late!
The second study of men and women with stage III colon cancer found that cancer survivors who regularly exercised—again for about an hour, six days per week—reduced their risk of getting colon cancer a second time by 49%.
This is fantastic news. It’s so encouraging that based on these results, researchers in Canada have just begun a controlled clinical trial in which colon cancer survivors will be assigned to differing exercise regimens and followed to see who fares best. You can bet I’ll be watching this one and sharing any news that comes out of this research with you.
Sources
Harriss DJ, Cable NT, George K, Reilly T, Renehan AG, Haboubi N. Physical activity before and after diagnosis of colorectal cancer: disease risk, clinical outcomes, response pathways and biomarkers. Sports Med 2007 37:947-60.
Meyerhardt JA, Giovannucci EL, Holmes MD, Chan AT, Chan JA, Colditz GA, Fuchs CS. Physical activity and survival after colon cancer diagnosis. J Clin Oncol 2007 24:3527-34.
Newton RU, Galvão DA. Exercise in prevention and management of cancer. Curr Treat Options Oncol 2008 9:135-46.
The American Institute for Cancer Research. Policy and Action for Cancer Prevention. Accessed: March 15, 2009.
http://www.aicr.org/site/PageServer?pagename=res_policy_report
