Groundbreaking report calls for exercise to be prescribed to cancer patients

Reversing established practice for the treatment of cancer, a group of leading Australian cancer organisations have declared that exercise should be prescribed to all cancer patients.

The advice from the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) is the world's first researcher-led call for exercise to be prescribed to all cancer patients.

Endorsed by a group of 25 influential health and cancer organisations, including Cancer Council Australia and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Society today launched the world-first position statement on the role of exercise alongside surgery, chemotherapy and radiation in cancer care.

Lead author, Professor Prue Cormie from the Australian Catholic University says the statement, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, is based on "indisputable" evidence.

Professor Cormie advised “really we are at the stage where the science is telling us that withholding exercise from cancer patients can be harmful.

"Exercise is the best medicine someone with cancer can take in addition to their standard cancer treatments. That's because we know now that people who exercise regularly experience fewer and less severe treatment side-effects; cancer related fatigue, mental distress, quality of life."

Professor Cormie added that patients also have a lower risk of their cancer coming back or dying from the disease.

People with cancer are recommended to do two to three resistance sessions a week and at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise, or such as walking, cycling or swimming.

David Speakman, Chief Medical Officer at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre advised that the days of wrapping cancer patients in "cotton wool” are over, stating “our attitudes to treating cancer, what it takes to give people their best chance at survival, have to change. All cancer patients will benefit from an exercise prescription.”

The COSA statement recommends the following:

Professor Cormie added “if we could turn the benefits of exercise into a pill it would be demanded by patients, prescribed by every cancer specialist and subsidised by government.

"It would be seen as a major breakthrough in cancer treatment."

The role of exercise as a “strong preventative medicine against cancer”, was described by West Australian Professor Daniel Galvão at the Royal Australian College of Surgeon’s 2015 Scientific Congress (ASC).

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