Dr Diana Adams, Medical Oncologist and co-founder of Evexia Care, was a guest on ABC’s Health Report which aired on 23 July 2018. The episode titled Exercise and Cancer: Improving Treatment and Outcomes, was reported by Dr Catherine Granger and presented with Dr Norman Swan. The episode considered an expanding area of research regarding the benefits of exercise in improving the treatment and outcomes of people who are diagnosed with cancer, and for cancer survivors post treatment.
Dr Adams said: “In all cancer types there is a benefit to exercise. We now know that exercise can actually mitigate some of the side effects of therapy and can actually improve the quality of life for those patients, both during and after therapy. In addition it is possible for some cancers it may actually improve their chances of the cancer not returning.
“So we know that exercise can actually reduce the patients’ fatigue through therapy. It’s likely to actually improve the chance of them actually completing their therapy. So the medicines we give to treat cancer can increase the chance of side effects such as fatigue, and exercise can ameliorate these side effects.
“We know that it is safe, it’s been proven in clinical trials, with actually quite significant volumes and intensities of exercise. A classic example would be prostate cancer where we suppress testosterone, and we know that testosterone is important for muscle mass. So by using exercise we can counteract some of the effects of that muscle loss through a tailored program.
“As soon as you have been unfortunately given a diagnosis of cancer I think it’s time to ask your doctor is it safe for me to get fitter either before my operation or even before the start of my treatment. We are moving into an era where treatments are sometimes given before surgery and there are recommendations to actually exercise so that you can get through your surgery fitter.
“Once you’ve have a diagnosis of cancer, we know that for some cancers through observational studies we can reduce the risk of the cancer coming back. Those studies are only observational studies, but we are now looking through randomised controlled trials to see whether this is a true effect and to see the magnitude of the effect. We believe that it is likely to reduce the risk of these cancers returning in the region of about 30%.”
Importantly for cancer survivors, she stated:
“….this is not just exercise during your treatment, this is hopefully something that you can continue throughout your life. We actually know that more women these days are cured of their breast cancer and actually are at more risk of cardiovascular disease and therefore it is really important that we take through life changing diagnoses, such as cancer, and provide that teachable moment, to improve their education and look after their health.”
Listen to podcast or read transcript here:
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/healthreport/exercise-and-cancer-improving-treatment-and-outcomes/10024822