Exercise as good as drugs to prevent cancer relapse: Global Study

Srinagar, Jun 23: The results of a world-class trial on life and health after cancer could change the very way cancer is looked at in the world.

Scientists have provided the first clear evidence that lifestyle modifications, specifically an exercise regimen, can drastically reduce the risk of cancer from coming back, and increase the odds of living longer ñ much better than the many drugs currently prescribed for cancer survivors.

These findings could pave the way for a better and longer life for any person, anywhere in the world, including J&K, immediately.

The research findings were recently presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The findings reveal that exercise can reduce the risk of dying by a third and prevent tumours from returning or new cancers from developing.

Chief Medical Officer of ASCO, Dr Julie Gralow was associated with the study that spanned over a decade.

Gralow said the evidence was significant to aggressively recommend physical activity during and after treatment.

The results of a structured exercise regimen were “as good as drugs” that are approved and prescribed to patients for preventing cancer relapse.

Patients who followed a structured exercise regimen after they completed treatment had 37 percent lower risk of death and 28 percent lower risk of cancer recurrence compared to patients who received only health advice.

It is the same, in fact, higher, magnitude of benefit that many drugs get approved at.

Drugs are expensive and toxic; Gralow was quoted as saying by The Guardian. The trial included 889 cancer patients between 2009 and 2023 from various countries around the world.

Of those enrolled, 90 percent had Stage-3 cancer.

This discovery could prove significant for Kashmir, where cancer rates have surged alarmingly and access to timely and advanced medical treatments is limited.

Moreover, cancer treatment continues to be a burden on the pockets of the population.

Approximately 50,000 new cancer cases have been reported in the region over the past few years.

Integrating structured exercise programmes into post-treatment care could offer a cost-effective and accessible solution, unlike expensive medications.

The regimens can be tailored to individual needs and implemented with minimal resources.

The rising incidence of cancers in Kashmir underscores the urgent need for effective post-treatment strategies to improve survival rates and quality of life for cancer patients here and beyond. Previous research has also shown that exercise can mitigate side effects of cancer treatment like heart and nerve damage and brain fog, further enhancing its value as a holistic approach to recovery.