Fitness and muscle strength could halve cancer deaths, research suggests

Muscle strength and good physical fitness could almost halve the risk of cancer patients dying from their disease, according to a study that suggests tailored exercise plans can boost survival.

The risk of people dying from cancer has decreased significantly in recent decades due to greater awareness of the symptoms and better access to treatment and care.

Despite remarkable progress, side effects of treatment, including on the heart and muscles, can affect survival.

A data analysis involving nearly 47,000 patients with different types and stages of cancer shows that muscle strength and good physical fitness are associated with a significantly lower risk of death from any cause in people with cancer.

The findings were published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

To inform potential options for extending survival in these patients, researchers examined whether muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness might be associated with a lower risk of death, and whether the type and stage of cancer might have an influence.

Researchers, led by Edith Cowan University in Australia, searched for relevant studies published in English up to August 2023, including 42 in the final pooled data analysis.

Compared with patients with poor muscle strength and low cardiorespiratory fitness, those at the other end of the spectrum were 31-46% less likely to die from any cause, the researchers said.

This combination of strength and fitness was associated with an 8-46% lower risk of death from any cause in patients with stage 3 or 4 cancer, and a 19-41% lower risk of death from any cause in patients with lung or digestive cancer. .

“Our findings highlight that muscle strength could potentially be used in clinical practice to assess mortality risk in late-stage cancer patients and that muscle-strengthening activities could therefore be used to increase life expectancy,” the researchers wrote.

A second studyalso published Wednesday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that maintaining a slimmer waist combined with regular exercise was much more effective at reducing the risk of cancer than just doing one or the other.

The study, funded by the World Cancer Research Fund, found that people needed to exercise and keep their weight down to get the maximum benefit.

The study, of more than 315,000 people, was the first to examine how the two actions together reduce the risk of cancer.

Dr. Helen Croker, assistant director of research and policy at the World Cancer Research Fund, said: “These findings underline the importance of taking a holistic lifestyle approach rather than focusing on a single factor to reduce cancer risk. Maintaining a healthy weight and, in particular, having a waist circumference within the recommended level and being physically active, along with eating a healthy diet, are all crucial steps in reducing the risk of cancer.”

Meanwhile, Cancer Research UK, a leading cancer charity, announced on Wednesday that it and its partners have committed £10 million to create new tools using AI and analytics to improve the early detection and prevention of cancer.

Doctors may soon be able to predict an individual’s chances of developing cancer and provide personalized help, thanks to the five-year cancer data-driven detection programme, the charity said.

This could lead to people at higher risk being screened for cancer more often, or being screened at a younger age, while people at lower risk could be spared unnecessary tests.