A structured exercise program helped colon cancer survivors live longer and lowered their odds for a relapse, a major international study shows.
The program lasted three years and included regular meetings with a fitness coach, Associated Press reported.
Over the period, people in the exercise group had 28% fewer cancers and had 37% fewer deaths from any cause, researchers reported.
“This is about as high a quality of evidence as you can get,” Julie Gralow, chief medical officer of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), told the AP. “I love this study because it’s something I’ve been promoting but with less strong evidence for a long time.”
The results were presented Sunday at ASCO’s annual meeting in Chicago and published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
