More efficient than medicines? How much sport protects us from cancer?

Sport in cancer: important as drugs
It has been known for some time that one can prevent cancers through a physically active life. And in cancer patients, physical activity can aid healing. Experts explain why that is.

Many cancers are preventable
More and more people are getting cancer. In Germany alone, around half a million new cases are registered each year. According to experts, a large proportion of all cancers are considered preventable. A healthy lifestyle can significantly reduce the risk of cancer. One way to reduce the personal cancer risk is to lead a physically active life. In addition, regular exercise is also recommended for cancer patients. Because this can help recovery. An article on the "ONKO Internetportal" of the German Cancer Society explains why this is so.

Sport helps to reduce the risk of personal cancer. In addition, physical activity helps in the treatment of cancer patients. (Image: ARochau / fotolia.com)

Side effects of cancer therapy are reduced
The effects of sports in cancer patients have been increasingly investigated in clinical studies in recent years.

Among other things, it has been shown that physical activity can measurably reduce the side effects of chemo- or anti-hormonal therapy.

In addition, this increases the performance. Self-confidence is also strengthened, which can contribute to a huge improvement in the quality of life.

But that's not all: physical activity also has a direct influence on the development of cancer, the course of a cancer and the risk of relapse. Furthermore, sport can improve the quality of life during the illness.

Prevent cancer
Anyone who exercises regularly prevents cancer. As it says on the "ONKO Internet portal", it is now assumed that physically active people can reduce their risk of developing cancer by an average of 20 to 30 percent.

If cancer nevertheless occurs, patients who have exercised regularly prior to their illness have been shown to have a lower risk of relapse.

According to the information, even previously inactive patients can benefit from a change in their lifestyle: Physical activity after a tumor disease has been shown to reduce the risk of relapse and increase the likelihood of a permanent cure.

Depending on the type of tumor, this effect may have the same beneficial effect as chemo- or anti-hormone therapy. This has been particularly well researched so far for breast, colon and prostate cancer.

Sports for breast cancer patients
For example, scientific research has shown that physical activity helps counteract the side effects of breast cancer therapy and supports treatment.

A recent study from the US also shows the need for sport in breast cancer patients.

According to the German Cancer Society, it examined to what extent walking or jogging influences the survival rate of women with breast cancer.

The study shows that the intensity of physical activity is related to the survival rate.

It becomes particularly clear that jogging in particular reduces breast cancer mortality. However, positive effects have also been shown in studies for leukemia and other cancer patients.

A Canadian study from 2017 examined the effect of physical training on the side effects of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients.

For this purpose, breast cancer patients with stage I-III had to complete a half-hour exercise session 24 hours before the chemotherapy.

The result: Significantly improved resting heart rate and blood pressure values. In addition, other positive effects such as less depressive moods and the decline of back pain were recorded.

Nevertheless, such training should first be clarified with the doctor, because not every patient is in the appropriate physical condition.

Why Sport Against Cancer Works
According to the German Cancer Society, the biological mechanisms that explain why sport has a direct influence on cancer are still largely unknown. This has to do with the fact that the growth of tumors is dependent on very complex processes.

However, because physical activity stimulates almost all organ systems and also affects the brain, it also affects the factors underlying cancer development.

This promotes blood circulation throughout the body, which in turn makes it difficult for cancer cells to survive. In addition, the growth of cancer cells depends on the breakdown products of glucose, which are increasingly consumed during exercise.

Sport brings the energy budget on tours and helps to maintain a healthy body weight. He also has positive effects on the psyche, which also affects the general condition and the immune system.

Other tumor-specific effects include the influence on sex hormones, antioxidant effects or an improvement in DNA repair mechanisms, as well as the reduction of insulin and endogenous messenger substances.

There are also other mechanisms that are crucial for certain types of cancer: For example, stimulating the metabolism shortens the contact time of possible carcinogenic substances in the stomach and intestine.

In women with hormone-dependent breast cancer, sport reduces estrogen levels in the blood and tissues - as well as drug-based antihormonal therapy.

Healthier way of life
Not to be underestimated is also the healthier way of life associated with sport: Who drives sports, often automatically renounces the excessive consumption of alcohol or nicotine.

Also the own body perception changes and becomes more conscious, so that changes of the condition are perceived more often already at an earlier stage of the cancer illness and thus enable an earlier start of therapy.

An example is the cachexia, the weight loss in the first six months of the cancer. If you are aware of the state of your own endurance capacity, the symptoms can be detected early.

There is a direct correlation between the amount of exercise and the anti-cancer effect: the more exercise, the greater the effect.

Nevertheless, beware of overloading, it is a moderate, tailored to the individual options of the patient training program to design.

So far, a combined strength and endurance training has proven to be particularly advantageous, with additional elements for training flexibility and coordination.

Strength training must be followed by a period of recovery and recovery. It is also necessary to have a diet adapted to the sports program so as not to overwhelm the body.

As it says on the "ONKO Internet portal", you should ideally 18-25 MET per week exercise. MET (metabolic equivalent task) is the unit of metabolism during physical activity; 1 MET corresponds to the energy consumption of 1kcal per kilogram of body weight per hour.

You spend a lot of MET per hour swimming (8), playing football, skiing or jogging (7 each). But domestic activities such as vacuuming (6), gardening (5) and lawn mowing (5.5) quickly fill their MET account.

If you prefer to take it easy, you can also go for several hours walking (4), walking (3) or cycling (4) on the weekly MET target.

It is advisable to seek professional advice in the preparation and exercise of the sports program.

Whichever one decides, it is important: it must be fun! Sport and exercise bring cancer patients out of the vicious circle of illness, depression and loneliness. (Ad)