03/09/2012
Mayo Study: Exercise Can Help Cancer Patients, but Few Oncologists Suggest
It
28 August 2012 Mayo Clinic
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Numerous studies have shown the powerful effect that
exercise can have on cancer care and recovery. For patients who have gone
through breast or colon cancer treatment, regular exercise has been found to
reduce recurrence of the disease by up to 50 percent. But many cancer
patients are reluctant to exercise, and few discuss it with their
oncologists, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in the Journal of
Pain and Symptom Management.
MULTIMEDIA ALERT: Video of Andrea Cheville, M.D., available on the Mayo
Clinic News Network.
“As doctors, we often tell patients that exercise is important, but to this
point, nobody had studied what patients know about exercise, how they feel
about it and what tends to get in the way,” says lead author Andrea
Cheville, M.D., of Mayo Clinic’s Department of Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation.
The study is part of a series of investigations looking at exercise habits
among cancer patients. Researchers found that patients who exercised
regularly before their diagnosis were more likely to exercise than those who
had not. Many patients considered daily activities, such as gardening,
sufficient exercise.
“There was a real sense of ‘What I do every day, that’s my exercise,’” says
Dr. Cheville, noting that most patients didn’t realize daily activities tend
to require minimal effort. “Most were not aware that inactivity can
contribute to weakening of the body and greater vulnerability to problems,
including symptoms of cancer.”
In addition, researchers found that patients took exercise advice most
seriously when it came directly from their oncologists, but none of those
studied had discussed it with them.
“Generally, patients are not being given concrete advice about exercise to
help them maintain functionality and to improve their outcomes,” Dr.
Cheville says.
Exercise can improve patients’ mobility, enable them to enjoy activities and
keep them from becoming isolated in their homes. It can contribute to
overall feelings of strength and physical safety, ease cancer-related
fatigue and improve sleep. The researchers plan to investigate how to make
the message about exercise meaningful to patients to optimize symptom relief
and enhance recovery.
The study was funded by a grant from the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Other
authors include Ann Marie Dose, Ph.D.; Jeffrey Basford, M.D.; Ph.D., and
Lori Rhudy, Ph.D.; all of Mayo Clinic.
