“The incorporation of physical exercise in cancer patients has proven to be beneficial in all stages of the disease”
In recent years, the number of publications in scientific journals in relation to the impact of exercise in the approach to cancer patients has increased significantly. This fact has led to the inclusion of new recommendations in the main oncological guidelines in the world such as the American ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) guidelines.
The incorporation of physical exercise in cancer patients has proven to be beneficial in all stages of the disease. From diagnosis, during treatment or after overcoming the disease in so-called cancer survivors.
If we talk about physical exercise and cancer, We can start with the benefits of prehabilitation. It consists of physically conditioning the patient before the oncological intervention in order to improve post-surgical complications, the average hospital stay, the risk of admission to the ICU… in addition to carrying out a nutritional and mental assessment and conditioning. There is a clinical trial published by the journal JAMA Surg in 2023 that concluded that Patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer who completed a four-week prehabilitation program before undergoing surgery had a lower risk of severe complications.ICU admissions and lower risk of complications in general compared to those who had not been included, as well as faster improvement in their recovery.
On the other hand, The ASCO guideline actively recommends prehabilitation in patients diagnosed with lung cancer with the aim of improving hospital stay after the intervention, as well as improving cardiorespiratory function.
In addition, it also recommends the prescription of physical exercise in the rest of the stages of the disease, during treatment or after it has ended. Considering it a safe practice and without serious adverse effects. In these cases, The type of exercise recommended is strength, resistance and high intensity aerobic. We cannot forget about a correct nutritional assessment to ensure a good protein intake to achieve good performance from the exercise performed.
In breast cancer, We have numerous publications that support the use of physical exercise during chemotherapy treatment improving muscle strength, cardiorespiratory function, asthenia caused by treatments, in short, improving quality of life.
It is important, as the SEOM (Spanish Society of Medical Oncology) has recently published, that this entire comprehensive approach to the cancer patient is framed within a multidisciplinary team that includes a medical oncologist or radiotherapist, rehabilitation doctors, nutritionists, and physical exercise specialists. , physiotherapists, psycho-oncologists to be able to meet all needs and draw on the advantages of a multidisciplinary team to achieve quality care with the best guarantees of safety for the patient.
The creation of Integrative Oncology Units in our country, such as Oncofit Pro in Huelvainspired by the pioneering integrative oncology units at MD Anderson in Houston or the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, are essential to achieve carry out a comprehensive approach to the oncological patient that integrates all spheres of the patient. With this strategy, we manage to improve the quality of life of the patients, reduce the toxicities derived from the treatments and improve the physical, nutritional and mental condition of the patients, ensuring that in this way they can complete their treatment, reducing delays in the administration of the cycles. or permanent interruptions.
For all these reasons, we consider that We must encourage the creation of a greater number of Integrative Oncology Centers to improve the care of cancer patients.based on scientific evidence and the recommendations of the main national and international guides of this specialty.
Dr.Francisco Javier Jiménez Ruiz
Director of the Oncofit Pro Oncology Center
Member of the Board of Directors of the Andalusian Society of Medical Oncology
Auditor of the ASCO QOPI certification program (ECO Foundation)
Specialized in the treatment of tumors of the digestive system and genetic counseling in hereditary cancer
