Patients with rectal cancer who exercised while receiving tumor-shrinking radiation therapy in advance of surgery had a higher chance of having their tumors disappear. “Instead of only looking at exercise as a supportive care intervention, this study begins to look at exercise as a cancer treatment.”
Andria Morelli, a former Ph.D. student who is now a post-doctoral fellow with Alberta Health Services, led the study. “This study was the first to give evidence of benefit for exercise in rectal cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy,” said Courneya, who is also a member of the Cancer Research Institute of Northern Alberta.
Patients With Rectal Cancer Who Exercise While Undergoing Radiation
This has been a surprising fact-checked by a team of experts. For those who love to work out but cannot do so due to their battle with cancer, it can be more than motivation as it can help them get control over their health in a short span.
The cells that convert into a tumor get removed if one goes for some exercises during this phase, even if he has to undergo the treatment options offered by the experts.
Patients with rectal cancer often begin treatment with chemoradiation therapy in order to reduce the tumor before surgery, according to Courneya. “Because less healthy tissue is removed when tumors are downstaged, clinicians have a higher chance of physically eliminating the tumor without creating major functional issues for these individuals.”
Exercise has been demonstrated in previous research to promote tumor vascularization, blood flow to the tumor, and oxygenation of the tumor, all of which, according to Courneya, can improve the effectiveness of therapies like radiation therapy.
“However, no research has been done to see if exercise can assist chemoradiation therapy shrink tumors more efficiently.” Rectal cancer patients were given six weeks of neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy followed by a supervised high-intensity interval exercise program for the trial.
Each workout consisted of eight consecutive rounds of two minutes of higher-intensity treadmill running followed by two minutes of lower-intensity treadmill jogging.
While fitness levels did not improve, 56 percent of those who exercised had their tumor entirely disappear with chemoradiation therapy, compared to 18 percent of those who did not exercise, according to Courneya’s Behavioural Medicine Laboratory.
Basically, if these people exercise while receiving cancer treatment, they can enhance their chances of having a pathologic complete response—that is, the tumor is gone—and boost the effectiveness of the cancer treatment.
Exercise is currently viewed as mostly a supportive care activity that helps patients feel better and preserve their quality of life while having little bearing on their treatment or illness outcomes.
“Now, we’re starting to wonder if exercise might help with cancer treatments and lead to better patient outcomes in terms of longer survival, lower recurrence risk, and, in this case, a better tumor response to treatment.”
Radiation therapy is a cancer-killing treatment that uses high-energy rays (such as x-rays) or particles. Rectal cancer is treated more frequently than colon cancer. Chemotherapy combined with radiation therapy can improve the outcome of some colon and rectal cancers.
Radiation therapy can be used to reduce a tumor before surgery or to destroy cancer cells during surgery to avoid a cancer recurrence.
Fatigue (tiredness) and skin changes are the most typical early adverse effects. When radiation treatment is provided to this location, other early adverse effects are usually connected to the area being treated, such as hair loss and mouth difficulties.
Patients who are in the early stages of cancer often benefit from either brachytherapy or external beam radiation. With either strategy, success rates of around 90% or greater can be attained.
