This week Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Thomas Curran about the latest research showing that a structured exercise program extends life for colon cancer survivors following cancer treatment. Dr. Curran is an Associate Professor of Surgery and a colorectal cancer surgeon at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center.
TRANSCRIPT:
Conner: I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio with Health Focus here at the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. A new research study presents powerful new evidence showing that a structured exercise program improves cancer survival. Doctor Thomas Curran is here to talk about the details. Doctor Curran is an Associate Professor of Surgery and he's a colorectal cancer surgeon at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. Doctor Curran, tell us about the highlights or conclusions from this study concerning colon cancer survivors in a structured exercise program.
Dr. Curran: To sum it up, this study group found that the group engaged with the structured exercise program had a 28% decreased risk of their cancer coming back, and a 37% decreased risk of dying from any cause compared to cancer survivors who just received educational materials promoting exercise.
Conner: Well, tell us a little bit about the basics of this research study, and why this seemed to be an important snapshot of what's really going on here.
Dr. Curran: Exactly. The context for this study is really important. We've known for a while that patients who exercise more, live longer after their cancer surgery. But the problem was it was difficult to know whether it was the exercise itself that helped them, or maybe patients who exercise are just healthier in other ways that help them to live longer. This study solves that problem through a process called randomization. Patients who had high risk stage two or stage three colon cancer, they had surgery for their cancer. They went on and completed chemotherapy. And then they were assigned to one of two groups by random chance. One was given educational materials encouraging exercise, while the other one was provided a structured exercise program that was supported even by a fitness consultant. And, that was the group that did better.
Conner: Do we have any understanding of why exercise is so important in this scenario?
Dr. Curran: It's a great question and the why is always much harder to know. But we know that exercise decreases inflammation in our system. We know it improves our metabolism. And since both of those things, inflammation and impairments in our metabolism raise cancer risk, we think that the opposite, helping those things, must help to prevent the cancer from coming back.
Conner: And from your perspective, as someone who works with cancer patients, cancer survivors, all of the time, what do you see as the significance of this and where might this be headed next?
Dr. Curran: We hope to add more resources to helping people to exercise after their cancer treatment. We've known for a while that exercise is good for us, but now we know in a really specific way that it helps people to live longer after their cancer surgery. And so really, people should exercise like their life depends on it. And I hope that people realize it's not like they need to go out and join a gym or do CrossFit or some kind of intensive thing. They'd be just as well served by getting out and taking a walk around their neighborhood or going to the park. Things that almost anybody can do. Even that level of exercise, can really help people live longer.
Conner: Doctor Curran, thanks for this information about exercising and colon cancer survivorship.
Dr. Curran: You're so welcome, Bobbi. Thank you.
Conner: From the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio.
Health Focus transcripts are intended to accurately represent the original audio version of the program; however, some discrepancies or inaccuracies may exist. The audio format serves as the official record of Health Focus programming.
