Easy, at-home exercise program can help cancer patients

"We talk a lot about how important it is for cancer patients to exercise, but until now, nobody has questioned whether less may be more for patients negotiating the demands of cancer treatment," says lead author Andrea Cheville, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. "This was the first trial to investigate what's feasible and helpful for patients with limited time and energy."

An interdisciplinary team of Mayo Clinic researchers developed an at-home exercise regimen, involving a pedometer-based walking program and a series of gentle resistance movements -- lifts and curls using a resistance band -- that can be done standing or seated. The workout takes only a few minutes a day, with minimal cost to patients.

In a randomized, controlled study of 66 adults with stage IV lung or colorectal cancer, researchers found that patients who exercised at least four times a week for two months showed improved mobility, had less fatigue and slept better when compared with those who didn't exercise. Though other measures such as pain were unaffected, the study suggests that the exercises can address several important disabling effects of disease and that even patients with late-stage cancer are able to perform the brief regimens.

The exercise program and study have significant implications for cancer care, Dr. Cheville says. Other studies have suggested that cancer-related exercise programs may impose financial burdens; patients can learn the REST regimen in a single physical therapy session. A muscle-building exercise regimen may help patients at all stages of cancer treatment.

"Muscles may atrophy during cancer care," Dr. Cheville adds. "Our regimen preserves muscle mass so that if patients develop complications from cancer or treatment, or require hospitalization, they have the reserves necessary to ensure that their bodies heal."

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health; grant number KL2 RR024151-01. Other authors include Jenny Kollasch, Justin Vandenberg, Tiffany Shen, Axel Grothey, M.D., and Jeffrey Basford, M.D., Ph.D., all of Mayo Clinic, and Gail Gamble, M.D., of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.