Exercise During Cancer Treatment

The ACS document, Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines for Cancer Survivors, highlights the therapeutic value of exercise during primary cancer treatment. "[E]vidence strongly suggests that exercise is not only safe and feasible during cancer treatment, but that it can also improve physical functioning, fatigue, and multiple aspects of quality of life."

As with every other aspect of Healthy Survivorship, prescriptions for exercise should be tailored to each individual.

Some clinicians advise certain survivors to wait to determine their extent of side effects with chemotherapy before beginning an exercise program. For those who were sedentary before diagnosis, low-intensity activities such as stretching and brief, slow walks should be adopted and slowly advanced. For older individuals and those with bone metastases or osteoporosis, or significant impairments such as arthritis or peripheral neuropathy, careful attention should be given to balance and safety to reduce the risk of falls and injuries. The presence of a caregiver or exercise professional during exercise sessions can be helpful.

[From Happiness in a Storm, page 52] "It would be a terrible disappointment if you tried to help your situation through exercise and ended up causing a preventable medical problem. Before you start any exercise program -- even walking -- have it approved by your physicain, perhaps in consultation with a physical or exercise therapist."

Comments

[Jan Baird Hasak]

I'm a huge fan of exercise during treatment. My oncologist told me that it even extends survival to keep up activities during treatment. Thank you for the service you do for the breast cancer community.

[CancerNavig8tor]

As an exercise physiologist and "graduate" of bresat cancer, I appreciate your help in spreading the word on exercise! Come poke around Workingoutcancer.com for more info :-)

[Roz Zakheim]

I know you're right that exercise really helps. But radiation produced such severe fatigue that I could barely walk half a block. I was working at the time and chose to conserve the little energy I had to do my job and help my elderly mother with her appointments. One can do only so much.

[Wendy S. Harpham, MD]

Dear Roz,
Your comment provides an opportunity to reinforce that exercise should be tailored to the specific situation.

The physical demands of radiation therapy would decrease how much you could expect to do. You also had many demands on your time: helping your mother and going for treatment, while working fulltime and dealing with the stresses of survivorship.

In your case, I would expect a simple measure might have helped to offset the fatigue associated with your radiation. First, ensure you get adequate rest at night with a daytime nap, if needed. Second, build some light aerobics into your day, such as by parking far from the entrance of destinations and then walking quickly to and from your car.

Adding exercise when you feel exhausted from treatment seems counterintuitive. But studies have shown that incorporating exercise into your day actually decreases the fatigue (helps improve the sense of well-being) during and after cancer therapy.

Where people get tripped up is assuming "exercise" means going to the gym for a 30-minute rigorous workout. As a Healthy Survivor, you can add five to ten minutes of aerobics while going through your everyday activities. In fact, your effort of doing so can save you some time each day.

Let me know if this makes sense.
Wendy