Researchers have suggested that a moderate exercise program could improve the success of chemotherapy treatment in esophageal cancer patients.
The research, which involved 40 esophageal cancer patients, showed that exercise can be safely included as part of cancer treatment. It was published in the ‘British Journal of Sports Medicine’.
Moderate exercise was also shown to reduce some of the negative effects of chemotherapy on fitness, meaning that it could help to make chemotherapy an option for more patients. The authors said the results indicated that a larger study was needed to confirm the findings.
Chemotherapy is a standard treatment for a range of cancers, including esophageal cancer, which affects the esophagus, sometimes called the gullet or food pipe. It can have negative side effects for patients including tiredness, sickness and risk of infection. Because of this, clinicians weigh up the positive and negative effects for each patient before using this treatment.
The trial looked at the impact of ‘prehabilitation’ exercise – a guided exercise program in which patients received regular training sessions before and during their chemotherap at home.
The patients were compared with a group of patients who had similar age and clinical status before the chemotherapy. The team looked at tumor samples, CT scans and immune markers from the patients. They found that those who had taken part in the exercise program showed a better response to the chemotherapy, with their tumors shrinking more, and being more likely to be ‘down-graded’ – assessed as being less advanced.
The study was led by Mr Andrew Davies, consultant in upper gastro-intestinal surgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’. He said: “This is a small study, but a promising one, as it shows how a moderate exercise program could help to improve the success of chemotherapy treatment. We want to confirm this effect in further studies, but conceivably this may benefit patients with other types of cancer and be a cost-effective way to improve the effectiveness of treatment.”
