Exercise Therapy in the Management of Solid Tumors

The benefits of exercise in patients with chronic disease have been studied extensively over the last half century. In contrast, investigation of the role of exercise following a diagnosis of cancer has received comparably less attention. In this article, we review the efficacy of exercise training in specific areas across the cancer survivorship continuum [i.e., pre-surgery, post-surgery during adjuvant therapy, following the completion of primary adjuvant therapy (survivorship), and palliation], with a view toward future research. The current evidence base provides strong but preliminary evidence that exercise training is a well-tolerated and safe adjunct therapy that can mitigate several common treatment-related side-effects among cancer patients with early disease both during and following adjuvant therapy although many questions remain unanswered. Preliminary evidence in this area supports that exercise therapy may be an important consideration in multidisciplinary management of patients following a cancer diagnosis.