Simple, At-Home Exercise Program Benefits Cancer Patients

Exercise can reduce cancer-related fatigue and improve sleep

Researchers recently discovered that a brief, at-home exercise program, Rapid, Easy, Strength Training (REST), improved cancer patients’ mobility and eased fatigue.

“We talk a lot about how important it is for cancer patients to exercise,” says lead author Andrea Cheville, MD, 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.”

For the randomized, controlled study, published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, researchers evaluated 66 adults with stage IV lung or colorectal cancer. Patients were instructed in a home-based exercise regimen that was developed by an interdisciplinary team of Mayo Clinic researchers. The exercise involved a pedometer-based walking program and a series of gentle resistance movements that can be done standing or seated. The workout took only a few minutes a day, with minimal cost to patients.

Study results showed that patients who exercised at least 4 times a week for 2 months had improved mobility and less fatigue, and slept better when compared with those who did not exercise. The study suggests that patients with late-stage cancer are able to perform the brief regimens and that the exercises can address several important disabling effects of disease.

“Muscles may atrophy during cancer care,” 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.”

Source: Mayo Clinic.