Exercise associated with longer survival

Brain cancer patients who are able to exercise live significantly longer than sedentary patients, U.S. scientists at the Duke Cancer Institute have reported. The finding, published online this week in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, adds to recent research that exercise improves how cancer patients feel during and after treatments, and may also extend their lives. The study enrolled 243 patients with advanced recurrent gliomas, lethal brain malignancies that typically result in a median life expectancy of less than six months. The patients who reported participating in regular, brisk exercise the equivalent of an energetic walk five days a week for 30 minutes had significantly prolonged survival, living a median 21.84 months versus 13.03 months for the most sedentary patients. "This provides some initial evidence that we need to look at the effects of exercise interventions, not only to ease symptoms but also to impact progression and survival," said Lee Jones, associate professor in the Duke Cancer Institute and senior author of the study.