Can Exercise Be An Effective Therapy Against Prostate Cancer?
Physical exercise may be as effective as drugs for treating prostate cancer patients. Previous research has demonstrated the benefits that exercising can have towards improving the quality of life of people with cancer. However Dr. Fred Saad, urologist-oncologist and researcher at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM), goes even further. He believes that physical exercise has a direct effect on cancer, as effective as drugs, for treating patients with prostate cancer, even in advanced stages of the disease.
“Typical patients with metastases often become sedentary. It is thought that this affects cancer progression,” he said. Dr. Saad is leading the first international study which aims to demonstrate that exercise literally extends the life of patients with metastatic prostate cancer.
“Normally, patients at this stage have a life expectancy of two to three years. We want to reduce mortality by at least 22%, which represents about six months of longer survival. This is the equivalent benefit of a new drug. Exercise could therefore supplement available treatments, inexpensively.”
The large-scale trial, which has already started in Ireland and Australia, will see some 60 hospitals across the globe recruit patients. All in, some 900 men with advanced prostate cancer will participate in the study. Researchers will study exercise as if it were a drug added to standard treatments. All patients will be treated within the latest scientific knowledge for this type of cancer.
“We will study exercise as if it were a drug added to standard treatments. All patients will be treated within the latest scientific knowledge for this type of cancer. They will continue to follow their therapies and take their medications. But half of the patients will receive psychosocial support with general recommendations on physical exercise. The other half will also follow a high intensity exercise program.”
They will continue to follow their individual therapies and take their medications as normal, but half of the patients will receive psychosocial support with general recommendations on physical exercise. The other half will also follow a high intensity exercise program. In addition, exercise medicine expert Professor Robert Newton has designed a specific strength and cardiovascular training program for patients in the “exercise” group.
“They will have an hour of aerobic and resistance training three times a week. An exercise specialist will supervise them for the first 12 months, and then they will continue without direct supervision. We will evaluate quality of life, appetite, and treatment tolerance in relation to their improved physical condition,” said Professor Newton, who is co-director of the Edith Cowan University, Exercise Medicine Research Institute.
The hypothesis is that exercise has a direct impact on cancer progression in addition to helping patients better tolerate therapy so that they will live longer. This study also aims at demonstrating that exercise literally extends the life of patients with metastatic prostate cancer. For further details, the study will be presented by Dr. Fred Saad at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago next month.
