Skip to main content

Exercise Helps Reduce Side Effects From Cancer Treatment

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on May 1, 2025.

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 1, 2025 -- Exercise mitigates adverse outcomes associated with cancer and its treatments, according to a review published online April 29 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Xue-Li Bai, from the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University in Shenyang, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to examine the comprehensive health impacts of exercise on people with cancer.

Based on 80 articles, all rated as moderate-to-high quality, the researchers found that 260 of the 485 associations (53.6 percent) were statistically significant and 81 (16.7 percent) were supported by high-certainty evidence according to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation criteria. There was moderate- to high-certainty evidence that exercise significantly mitigates adverse events associated with cancer and its treatments (e.g., cardiac toxicity, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, cognitive impairment, and dyspnea), compared with usual care or no exercise. In people with cancer, exercise also modulated body composition and biomarkers (e.g., insulin, insulin-like growth factor-1, insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-1, and C-reactive protein) and enhances sleep quality, psychological well-being, physiological functioning, social interaction, and overall quality of life.

"Exercise reduces adverse events and enhances well-being through a range of health outcomes in people with cancer," the authors write. "This study reinforces the efficacy of incorporating exercise into cancer treatment protocols."

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

Adoption of Telemedicine Cuts Greenhouse Gas Emissions

THURSDAY, May 1, 2025 -- Telemedicine use modestly decreases the carbon footprint of U.S. health care delivery, according to a study published online April 22 in the American...

Eliminating Nursing Understaffing Aids Hospital Outcomes

THURSDAY, May 1, 2025 -- Addressing nursing understaffing improves outcomes for hospitalized patients, according to a study published online April 29 in BMJ Quality &...

Study IDs Nonclinical, Modifiable Risk Factors Tied to Sudden Cardiac Arrest

THURSDAY, May 1, 2025 -- Modifiable, nonclinical risk factors such as lifestyle modifications and physical measures may reduce the risk for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), according...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.