Can exercise help colon cancer survivors live longer?

While we all know that exercise is beneficial for overall health, a new study has found that it can also boost longevity in colon cancer survivors. A new study CancerPeople who have colon cancer often have higher rates of premature mortality than people in the general population with matched characteristics such as age and sex. In order to understand whether exercise will reduce this disparity, the researchers looked at the data from two posttreatment trials in patients with stage 3 colon cancer, with a total of 2,875 patients who self-reported physical activity after cancer surgery and chemotherapy. They also analyzed the data on a matched general population from the National Center for Health Statistics.The physical activity of all participants was based on metabolic equivalent (MET) hours per week. 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week is often recommended which translates into approximately 8 MET-hours/week.In the first trial (CALGB 89803), colon cancer survivors who were still alive three years after treatment and exercised very little (<3.0 MET-hours/week) had a 17.1% lower survival rate over the next three years compared to the general population. However, those who exercised more (≥18.0 MET-hours/week) had only a 3.5% lower survival rate.In the second trial (CALGB 80702), among survivors who were alive at three years, those with low activity (<3.0 MET-hours/week) had a 10.8% lower survival rate, while those with higher activity (≥18.0 MET-hours/week) had only a 4.4% lower survival rate.When researchers combined data from both trials, they analyzed 1,908 patients who were alive and had no cancer recurrence three years after treatment. Survivors who exercised less than 3.0 MET-hours/week had a 3.1% lower survival rate over the next three years compared to the general population.Survivors who exercised 18.0 or more MET-hours/week actually had a 2.9% higher survival rate than the general population. This hints that colon cancer survivors who remained tumor-free and engaged in regular exercise not only matched but even surpassed the survival rates of the general population.“This new information can help patients with colon cancer understand how factors that they can control—their physical activity levels—can have a meaningful impact on their long-term prognosis. Also, medical and public health personnel and policymakers are always seeking new ways to communicate the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Quantifying how physical activity may enable a patient with colon cancer to have a survival experience that approximates their friends and family without cancer could be a simple but powerful piece of information that can be leveraged to help everyone understand the health benefits of physical activity,” Justin C. Brown, PhD, lead author, Pennington Biomedical Research Center and the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center said in a statement.