An exercise programme for colon cancer patients can cut the risk of dying by a third, a major international trial shows.

The researchers said it was “not a large amount” of exercise and any type of workout from swimming to salsa classes counted.

The results could change the way colon cancer is treated around the world.

Scientists are already investigating whether similar exercise regimes could improve survival for people with other diseases, such as breast cancer.

In the trial, the three-year exercise programme started soon after chemotherapy.

The aim was to get people doing at least double the amount of exercise set out in the guidelines for the general population.

That could be three-to-four sessions of brisk walking a week, lasting 45-60 minutes, Prof Coyle says.

People got weekly face-to-face coaching sessions for the first six months, which then dropped to once a month.

The trial, involving 889 patients, put half on the exercise programme. The other half were given leaflets promoting a healthy lifestyle.

The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed after five years:
80% of people exercising remained cancer-free
compared with 74% in the other group
meaning a 28% reduction in the risk of the cancer coming back, or a new one forming

Meanwhile, eight years after the initial cancer treatment:
10% of people on the exercise programme died
compared with 17% in the group given only health advice
marking a 37% lower risk of death

BBC:
Exercise improves colon cancer survival, major study shows

• Local / Living