Research at
Northumbria University, Newcastle is investigating the important role that
structured exercise programmes can play in living with and beyond cancer.
Cancers of the
breast, prostate and colon are amongst the most common in western societies. Although
survival rates are increasing, the physical and mental impacts of these cancers
and their treatments are long-lasting. Macmillan Cancer Support predicts that
support and after care for people with cancer beyond their initial treatment
will cost the NHS at least £1.4 billion every year by 2020.
Led by John
Saxton, Professor in Clinical Exercise Physiology and
Head of the Department of Sport, Exercise & Rehabilitation at Northumbria,
the research is a collaboration with clinical colleagues from NHS
Foundation Trusts in the North East, Norwich and Sheffield.
“Physical activity
and structured exercise have an important role to play in
alleviating the physiological and psychological impact of cancer and its
treatments,” said Professor Saxton.
“Cancer is now considered
a chronic condition because more people are living longer after a cancer
diagnosis. This research is about using physical exercise as part of lifestyle
interventions to improve the health of people living with and beyond cancer.”
Current
research is focused on the role of exercise, in conjunction with dietary
advice, in reversing adverse body composition changes – such as increased fat
mass and reduced lean body mass – for
patients recovering from hormone-receptor positive breast cancer in the North
East and Sheffield. The Newcastle, Gateshead and Northumbria NHS Foundation
Trusts are taking part in the North East.
In addition, a
large-scale multi-centre trial is investigating how exercise programmes prior
to surgery can be used to improve fitness and treatment outcomes in colorectal
cancer patients across the UK, and includes the Northumbria Healthcare NHS
Foundation Trust in the North East. Other work is aimed at developing exercise
programmes to alleviate the side-effects of prostate cancer and its treatments.
There are
approximately 1100 patients being recruited for the colorectal cancer study and
the breast cancer and prostate cancer studies have involved over 100 patients
to date.
“We know that
common cancers, such as cancers of the breast, prostate and colon can be linked to excess body weight and if patients
put weight on after treatment, this can be linked to poorer outcomes,” said
Professor Saxton.
“There is a
real need to provide sustainable lifestyle support, including regular exercise,
healthy eating and maintenance of a healthy body weight. This isn’t just about
quality of life, as it can also benefit long-term disease outcomes, such as
risk of cancer recurrence and the development of cardiometabolic
diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular conditions.”
While structured
exercise interventions will never replace the traditional cancer treatments of
chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery and hormone treatments, Professor Saxton is
seeing structured exercise programmes increasingly being used as part of cancer
treatment in the NHS. This research is closely aligned with NHS treatment plans
and is helping to build a solid evidence-base to support the use of exercise in
the holistic management of people living with and beyond cancer.
The research
forms part of a recent report by The Physiological Society and GuildHE which
looks at the contribution Sport and Exercise Science (SES) makes to UK. The
results show that SES courses added £3.9 billion in income to the UK economy.
“Our research
was included in the report because it exemplifies the benefits
of Sport and Exercise Science to society”, said Professor Saxton.
