This Changes Everything: A Breakthrough Discovery in the Treatment of Colon Cancer

Colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer, right after lung cancer. The introduction of preventive tests, such as colonoscopy and fecal occult blood tests, have increased early detection of this disease and improved the effectiveness of treatment. However, colorectal cancer is increasingly common in young people. In the United States, it is predicted that by 2030 it will be the most common cause of cancer death in the group of people aged 20-49.

Previous studies have suggested that regular exercise can improve the prognosis of patients struggling with colon cancer, and this is even more indicated by the latest observations published at the American Society of Oncology (ASCO) congress held in Chicago .

- In colon cancer, exercise should be considered an important element of therapy - says Prof. Christopher Booth from Queen's University in Kingston (Ontario) in Canada. The specialist cites the latest research, of which he is a co-author.

Between 2009 and 2024, they covered almost 900 patients with colon cancer who had completed chemotherapy. Half of them received brochures on a healthy lifestyle in cancer, mainly nutrition and physical exercise. The remaining patients had an assistant at their disposal for three years advising on how to be physically active in the disease.

It was shown that in both groups the risk of disease recurrence fell by an average of 28%. In the first group, which received only information brochures, 73% of patients were free from the disease for 5 years, and in the second group - 80%. This means that lifestyle changes prevented the recurrence of colon cancer in one in sixteen patients.

Prof. Booth believes that exercise has similar, and sometimes even better, effects than the drugs used. It is not yet clear how it protects against cancer recurrence. It is suspected that it has an anti-inflammatory effect, inhibiting the development of cancer.

This is also indicated by other studies on the beneficial effects of an anti-inflammatory diet on cancer patients, which were also published during the ASCO congress. Specialists from the Dona-Faber Cancer Institute in Boston conducted them on patients with stage III colon cancer.

It has been shown that an anti-inflammatory diet combined with greater physical exercise in patients with colon cancer reduces the risk of death by as much as 63 percent (compared to those who stuck to the so-called inflammatory diet).

An anti-inflammatory diet should include foods with a low glycemic index and large amounts of fiber, including large amounts of vegetables and fruits, and mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

In turn, a pro-inflammatory diet is one that is rich in highly processed products with a high glycemic index, as well as animal fats, red meat and sweet carbonated drinks.

Prof. Booth believes that both exercise and diet should be prescribed to patients like prescription drugs. However, he points out that cancer patients need support in this area.

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