(Excerpted from The Guardian, January 21, 2025. By Andrew Gregory)
Analysis shows patients need to exercise and keep their weight down to reap maximum benefit.
Cancer patients with good muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness were 31-46% less likely to die, the research found.
A data analysis, involving nearly 47,000 patients with various types and stages of cancer, suggests muscular strength and good physical fitness are linked to a significantly lower risk of death from any cause in people with cancer.
Muscular strength and good physical fitness could almost halve the risk of cancer patients dying from their disease, according to a study that suggests tailored exercise plans may increase survival.
The likelihood of people dying from their cancer has decreased significantly in recent decades owing to greater awareness of symptoms, and better access to treatment and care.
However, despite notable advances, the side-effects of treatment, including on the heart and muscles, can affect survival.
A data analysis, involving nearly 47,000 patients with various types and stages of cancer, suggests muscular strength and good physical fitness are linked to a significantly lower risk of death from any cause in people with cancer.
Compared with patients with poor muscle strength and low levels of cardiorespiratory fitness, those at the other end of the spectrum were 31-46% less likely to die from any cause, the researchers said.
This combination of strength and fitness was associated with an 8-46% lower risk of death from any cause in patients with stage 3 or 4 cancer, and a 19-41% lower risk of death from any cause among those with lung or digestive cancers.
“Our findings highlight that muscle strength could potentially be used in clinical practice to determine mortality risk in cancer patients in advanced stages and, therefore, muscle strengthening activities could be employed to increase life expectancy,” the researchers wrote.
A second study, also published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine on Wednesday, found maintaining a slimmer waistline along with regular exercise was far more effective at cutting the risk of cancer than doing only one or the other.
The research, funded by the World Cancer Research Fund, found people needed to exercise and keep their weight down to reap the maximum benefit.
The study, of more than 315,000 people, was the first to investigate how the two actions combine to reduce cancer risk.
Dr Helen Croker, assistant director of research and policy at the World Cancer Research Fund, said: “These findings underscore the importance of a holistic lifestyle approach instead of focusing on a single factor to reduce cancer risk. Maintaining a healthy weight and, in particular, having a waist circumference within the recommended level and being physically active, along with eating a healthy diet, are all crucial steps to reduce cancer risk.”
