Muscle strength and good physical fitness can almost halve the risk of cancer patients dying from their disease, a study shows, and suggests that tailored exercise plans may increase their chances of survival.
The likelihood of people dying from cancer has decreased significantly in recent decades due to increased awareness of symptoms and improved access to treatment and care.
However, despite remarkable progress, side effects of treatment, including on the heart and muscles, can affect survival.
The analysis of the data, which included nearly 47,000 patients with different types and stages of cancer, suggests that muscular strength and good physical fitness are associated with a significantly lower risk of death from any cause in people with cancer.
The results have been published In the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
To clarify potential options for extending survival in these patients, the researchers set out to find out whether muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness might be associated with a lower risk of death, and whether the type and stage of cancer might be influential.
The researchers, led by Edith Cowan University in Australia, searched for relevant studies published in English up to August 2023, including 42 in the final pooled data analysis.
Compared with patients with poor muscle strength and low levels of cardiorespiratory fitness, those at the other end of the spectrum were 31 to 46 percent 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 gastrointestinal cancer. .
“Our findings highlight the possibility of using muscle strength in clinical practice to determine the risk of death in advanced cancer patients, and thus muscle strengthening activities can be used to increase life expectancy,” the researchers wrote.
Second studyThe study, also published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine on Wednesday, found that maintaining a slimmer waistline with regular exercise is far more effective in reducing cancer risk than doing one or the other.
The research, funded by the World Cancer Research Fund, found that people need to exercise and keep their weight low to reap the maximum benefit.
The study, which included more than 315,000 people, was the first to investigate how to combine the two procedures to reduce the risk of cancer.
Dr Helen Crocker, associate director for research and policy at the World Cancer Research Fund, said: “These findings underscore the importance of taking a holistic approach to lifestyle rather than focusing on a single factor to reduce cancer risk. Maintaining a healthy weight and, in particular, waist circumference within The recommended level of physical activity, along with eating a healthy diet, are all crucial steps to reduce the risk of cancer.
Meanwhile, Cancer Research UK, a leading cancer charity, announced on Wednesday that it and its partners have pledged £10 million to create new tools using artificial intelligence and analytics to improve early cancer detection and prevention.
Doctors may soon be able to predict an individual’s chances of developing cancer and offer personalized help, thanks to a cancer screening program built on five years of cancer data, the charity said.
This could lead to people at higher risk being screened for cancer more frequently, or screening at a younger age, while people at higher risk could be spared unnecessary testing.