Moderate Exercise Helps With Colon Cancer - Prevention After Colon Cancer Treatment

Moderate and regular exercise substantially reduces the risk that colon cancer will return and patients currently undergoing treatment can improve their overall chance of survival.

This excellent news was reported by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists in a pair of studies published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in August 2006 but merit repeating because they show definite life prolonging impact by simple exercise in a life critical disease.

The researchers reported colon cancer patients who engaged in moderate exercise for 6 to 12 months after completing therapy had a 50 percent higher survival rate than those who didn't exercise. The improvement took place in patients with very early and more advanced (but non-spreading) colon cancer. All patients had undergone surgery.

Jeffrey Meyerhardt, MD, MPH, [Dana-Farber] was the lead author and reported: "From previous studies we know that regular physical activity reduces the risk of developing colon cancer, but until now few studies have looked at the survival effect of exercise on people who have been treated for disease... While our work found a significant benefit for patients who exercise, it's important that exercise be seen as a supplement to, not a replacement for, standard therapies."

Results appear particularly robust because the two studies used different sets of data to arrive at their shared conclusion. Patients who simply exercised such as walking 6 hours a week were 47 percent more likely to be alive and free of disease than those who were less physically active.

Additionally, patients who increased their physical activity after colon cancer diagnosis had about a 50 % less chance of dying from colon cancer or from other causes than physically inactive patients.

Meyerhardt is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School: "As with any exercise program, people should check with their doctor before increasing their degree of physical activity... to reduce the chances that colon cancer will return after treatment, as well as for overall health reasons, regular exercise is a good option for survivors to consider."