Physical Activity May Prevent Colon Cancer Recurrence

THURSDAY, April 6, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Postoperative physical activity is associated with improved disease-free survival for stage III colon cancer, according to a study published online March 6 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Justin C. Brown, Ph.D., from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and colleagues assessed whether postoperative physical activity prevents or delays cancer recurrence in patients with stage III colon cancer. The analysis included 1,696 patients with surgically resected stage III colon cancer followed for a median 5.9 years.

The researchers found the risk for disease recurrence peaked between one and two years postoperatively and declined gradually to year 5. Throughout follow-up, the risk for recurrence in physically active patients never exceeded that of physically inactive patients, suggesting that physical activity prevents — as opposed to delays — cancer recurrence in some patients. During the first postoperative year, there was a significant disease-free survival benefit associated with physical activity (hazard ratio, 0.68). During the first three postoperative years, there was a significant overall survival benefit associated with physical activity (hazard ratio, 0.32).

“Postoperative physical activity is associated with improved disease-free survival by lowering the recurrence rate within the first year of treatment, which translates into an overall survival benefit,” the authors write.

Two authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.