Exercise matters long after cancer diagnosis

	Tweet

The familiar “eat right and exercise” message is particularly important for overweight elderly survivors of breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers, because lifestyle factors can significantly affect their quality of life, new research shows.

With more than half the 11 million cancer survivors in the U.S. older than age 65, Dr. Catherine E. Mosher, from New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and her colleagues wanted to know whether overweight elderly cancer patients’ quality of life—long after their original diagnosis and treatment—is affected by their health habits.

To study this question, they interviewed 753 men and women, all at least 65 years old, who had survived 5 or more years after a breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer diagnosis. All were overweight to some degree, but none was morbidly obese. 

When the interviewers asked about exercise, diet, weight status, and quality of life, they found that half the group got no more than 10 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week, and only 7% had healthful eating habits.

Overall, the researchers report in the journal Cancer, the survivors rated their mental and physical quality of life higher than average, compared to responses from age-matched normal populations.

However, those who exercised more and had better diet quality also had better physical quality of life outcomes (e.g., better vitality and physical functioning) than those who exercised less and ate poorly. Also, the greater the body weight, the poorer the physical quality of life.

In general, conclude Mosher and colleagues, the results point to “the potential negative impact of obesity and the positive impact of physical activity and a healthy diet on physical quality of life in cancer survivors.

It’s already known that “physical activity is associated with a decreased risk of cancer recurrence and improved survival in both breast and colorectal cancer,” Mosher told Reuters Health.

Another reason to exercise is that “Older cancer survivors are at higher risk for functional decline” - that is, the loss of their ability to perform their usual activities - compared to people of the same age who never had cancer, Mosher added.

Also, she said, “there’s some evidence that physical activity may help prevent sarcopenic obesity,” a form of obesity associated with chemotherapy and hormonal therapy.

“In terms of diet,” she added, “it remains unclear whether following specific dietary guidelines improves outcomes in quality of life for specific cancers.”

Even so, Mosher said, being overweight will worsen a variety of other medical conditions a cancer survivor might have.

SOURCE: Cancer, September 1, 2009.

RELATED STORIES:
Cancer patients want honesty, compassion from their oncologist   Cancer Staging Takes Cues from Embryonic Development   Diabetes drug kills cancer stem cells in combination treatment in mice   Using PET/CT Imaging, Researchers Can Tell After a Single Treatment Whether Chemotherapy is Working   Mount Sinai researchers discover possible new target for sarcoma treatment and prevention   Intensive Chemotherapy Can Dramatically Boost Survival of Older Teenage Leukemia Patients   Mayo Clinic study shows Parkinson’s disease drug might work in cancer patients   Study reveals cancer-linked epigenetic effects of smoking   10 ways to make better decisions about cancer care   New Imaging Approach for Difficult Cancer Diagnosis   Study reveals differences in cancer stage presentation between rural and urban patients   Antibody signal may redirect inflammation to fuel cancer   Obesity drug ‘may fight cancer’   Reovirus could be used to treat many forms of advanced cancer   Europe aims to reduce cancer deaths by 15 pct by 2020   Ben-Gurion U. researchers reveal connection between cancer and human evolution   Doctors Hesitate to Discuss Fertility Preservation With Cancer Patients   Research Finds New Link Between Inflammation and Cancer   Telephone Calls Increase Cancer Screening Rates   Scientists may be able to double efficacy of radiation therapy   Only five percent of cancer research funds are spent on metastases, yet it kills 90 percent of all cancer patients   Young Volunteers Help Close Social Gap in Cancer Care

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]