Cancer Rx: Move?

Exercise May Have Role in Treatment

The standard weapons in the fight against cancer -- surgery, chemotherapy and radiation -- may soon be joined by something far simpler: exercise.

New research shows that regular physical activity helps reduce the risk of recurrence of breast cancer and slows the advance of prostate cancer.

In a few years, exercise will probably be prescribed regularly for cancer rehabilitation, said Melinda Irwin, an expert on cancer and exercise at Yale University School of Medicine. Personal trainers may join oncologists, surgeons and radiologists as members of the cancer-treatment team.

Exercise will become a "targeted therapy, similar to chemotherapy or hormonal therapy," Irwin said.

Any regular physical activity -- the equivalent of a 30-minute walk, five times a week -- will do.

Exercise offers many other advantages: It fights the fatigue caused by cancer treatment, calms anxiety and helps survivors feel better about themselves and their bodies.

Some personal trainers now specialize in working with cancer patients, and more will soon be certified through a program of the American College of Sports Medicine.

There are 10 million cancer survivors in the United States, 22 percent of them women who have had breast cancer, 17 percent of them men who've had prostate cancer. Exercise makes sense for most of them -- to live longer, avoid other health problems and just feel better.

Heart attack patients are now routinely put on exercise plans. But workouts for cancer patients are neither prescribed by doctors nor covered by health insurance.

"We're where cardiac rehab was 20 years ago," Irwin said. Once exercise was shown through research to prevent fatal heart attacks, 12 weeks of rehabilitation became the standard of care for most heart patients. In fact, many hospitals opened cardiac rehab centers.

Even with a low level of exercise, people benefit psychologically, said Rita Musanti, an oncology nurse practitioner at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. With so many cancer survivors in the community, she'd like to see informal networks created to encourage recovering cancer patients.

Beth Wajts of Hillsdale, N.J., joined a YMCA's free "Living Healthy, Living Strong" class in January after her second surgery for breast cancer, followed by chemotherapy and radiation.