I have always believed, and stuck to the principle, that sensible physical activity is a further and indispensable addition to any therapy. One confirmation of my conclusions came with the guidelines published by a panel of experts, which state that regular exercise helps to prevent cancer from developing and also helps people undergoing cancer treatment to feel well.
Regular exercise reduces inflammation, helps to keep weight under control and strengthens the immune system.
Schmitz, a professor of public health specialising in cancer at Pennsylvania State University, believes that our grasp of the links between exercise and cancer is where our grasp of the links between exercise and heart health was decades ago.
In the past, if you had started getting a patient out of bed and doing therapeutic exercise with them, your actions would at the very least have drawn (unfounded) criticism. Moving after a heart attack was considered out of the question. Today the benefit of exercise for recovery and for heart health in general is well known.
A similar understanding and consensus is now taking shape in medical circles when it comes to cancer.
The latest sign of this shift appeared recently in the publication of new guidelines recommended to doctors - «…to prescribe exercise in order to lower the risk of certain cancers, improve treatment outcomes and improve the quality of life of people with the disease.»
"Today, if you ask someone who has a relative with colon cancer whether that person should exercise, they will probably either say" no", or they do not know", notes Professor Schmitz
The new supplementary guidance on the treatment of cancer patients was drawn up by experts from the American College of Sports Medicine, the American Cancer Society and 15 other groups
The gist of the published guidance is that exercise helps to prevent cancer of the bladder, breast, colon, oesophagus, kidney, stomach and uterus.
The core principles of the document also state that exercise can help to improve survival rates for people with breast, colon and prostate cancer, as well as their quality of life, in terms of reducing the side effects of cancer treatment.
How much exercise is needed?
The researchers recommend that people with cancer do 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise 3 times a week and strength training, with weights for instance, 2-3 times a week.
Initially the specialists studying the question set out to find whether there are particular "doses" of exercise that could be tailored to different categories of people with cancer.
It turned out that the recommendation - 30 minutes 3 times a week - works fairly universally.
According to Schmitz, they were still aiming to "prescribe exercise the way you prescribe medicine". And it turned out that this is, say, 600 milligrams for everyone…»
As for cancer prevention, the general recommendation for physical activity is at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week.
An important open question is still how to arrive at more individual recommendations for cancer prevention.
" We do not know the exact, optimal dose of exercise needed for cancer prevention". "As of today, we know that the more you do, the better." Alpa Patel, senior scientific director of epidemiology research at the American Cancer Society
How it works
Exercise affects cancer prevention in several ways at once, by:
- reducing inflammation;
- normalising blood sugar and sex hormone levels;
- improving the metabolism;
- strengthening the immune system.
"It can also affect the development of cancer, or the risk of it, by reducing obesity, a risk factor for many kinds of cancer", says Dr Crystal Denlinger, an oncologist at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia and chair of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network expert panel on survivorship.
"Depending on the particular cancer, one or several of these mechanisms may matter more than the others","For breast cancer, for example, the benefit of exercise really does come from its effect on the sex hormones." Patel, lead author of the recommendations
The exact reasons why exercise affects different kinds of cancerous tumours still need further research.
Individual recommendations may differ from case to case. And although there is no single "best" exercise, anything that gets you moving and keeps you active does you good.
The efforts made by Schmitz, and the initiative she launched at the American College of Sports Medicine, are helping to change the way oncologists look at physical activity in the treatment of cancer patients.
Take care and stay healthy! Your expert in relieving any stress and pain, Mikhail Borisovich! ✌????
