Exercise improves colon cancer survival, major study shows
Written by laserteam on June 2, 2025
(BBC) – An exercise programme for colon cancer patients can cut the risk of dying by a third, a major international trial shows.
The researchers said it was “not a large amount” of exercise and any type of workout from swimming to salsa classes counted.
The results could change the way colon cancer is treated around the world.
Scientists are already investigating whether similar exercise regimes could improve survival for people with other diseases, such as breast cancer.
“It’s a bit of a mind-shift, thinking of treatment as something you do, not just something you take,” says researcher Prof Vicky Coyle from Queen’s University Belfast.
The trial, involving 889 patients, put half on the exercise programme. The other half were given leaflets promoting a healthy lifestyle.
The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed after five years:
- 80% of people exercising remained cancer-free
- compared with 74% in the other group
- meaning a 28% reduction in the risk of the cancer coming back, or a new one forming
Meanwhile, eight years after the initial cancer treatment:
- 10% of people on the exercise programme died
- compared with 17% in the group given only health advice
- marking a 37% lower risk of death
