Cancer & Exercise

With advances in knowledge and technology, the proportion of cancer patients who have been cured or survive with cancers is growing, but a certain proportion of patients will still have disease recurrence or progression to palliative care. During the entirety of cancer progression, significant adverse impacts on physical and psychological aspects have been observed due to both diseases themselves and the associated treatments. Exercise-oncology is an emerging field of research that has gained increasing attention since the term was first publicly introduced during the 1980s, showing improved functional capacity, body composition and treatment-related nausea with aerobic exercise. In this book, the authors review the current evidence on the application of exercise in various time points during cancer care, including as a preventive measure before cancer development, as a treatment during cancer treatments, as a rehabilitation measure during the recovery phase, and as a supportive measure during palliative care. Proposed mechanisms and published data from various studies will be evaluated, and finally guidelines on exercise prescription during cancer care will also be discussed.