06/15/2026
On this Medical Monday The Gloria Borges WunderGlo Foundation is excited about a new study that shows evidence that: “Exercise may benefit colon cancer patients as much as some drugs!!”
- Sticking to an exercise program after colon cancer treatment was linked to a 28% lower risk of the cancer returning, a new cancer diagnosis or death.
This groundbreaking study reveals that structured exercise significantly improves cancer survival rates. Colon cancer patients who participated in a supervised exercise program experienced a 37% lower risk of death and a 28% reduction in cancer recurrence or new occurrences.
The study, published Sunday in New England Journal of Medicine, looked at patients with Stage III or high-risk Stage II colon cancer who received standard surgery and chemotherapy treatment. Researchers randomly assigned the patients to a control group, which received educational materials promoting physical activity and healthy nutrition, or to a treatment group, which also received support from a “physical activity consultant” - a hybrid of personal trainer and life coach - over three years to increase their aerobic exercise and sustain it.
Eighty percent patients in the exercise group remained disease-free after five years, compared to 74% of patients in the control group. After eight years, the exercise program had prevented one death for every 14 people who participated in the exercise arm of the study. The reduction was specifically in colon cancer deaths, Booth said - not deaths from other causes, like cardiovascular disease.
The Phase 3 randomized controlled trial included nearly 900 patients in six countries. The average age was 61 and about 90% of the participants had Stage 3 colon cancer, which recurs in about 35% of patients within five years post-treatment. The researchers followed each patient for about eight years from 2009 through 2024.
After they finished surgery and chemotherapy, half of the participants were enrolled in an exercise program. The other half, the control group, was given a booklet encouraging them to exercise and eat well post-recovery.
The ultimate goal of the exercise program was to get people to increase their exercise up to a certain amount each week from wherever they were starting out.
Eight years post-recovery, 90% of the people in the exercise program arm of the trial hadn’t had recurrences or new cancer diagnoses, compared with 83% in the control group. Of the 445 people in the exercise group, 41 died within eight years of their cancer treatment, compared with 66 of the 444 people in the control group. People who exercised more also had lower risks of several other cancers, including breast and other colore**al cancers.
It’s still not clear why regular exercise appears to have such a large effect on colon cancer recurrence, but a growing number of studies now show that exercise can decrease the risk of breast, colon and re**al cancer recurrence, sometimes by as much as 45%.
Read more at:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/exercise-extends-life-for-people-with-cancer-study/articleshow/121557520.cms?fbclid=IwY2xjawSdRGpleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETJzZnByZXRrQ1FpcmZ0M0I4c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHk_cHT05PIPtXvuQflbt2bv6DuadMktF2KvBbZQDK9WvXTWDIgLD6O2zatmI_aem_1fPt_LlcRLfd7VeZJdWa9w
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/exercise-may-benefit-colon-cancer-patients-much-drugs-rcna209560
