Muscular strength and good physical fitness are linked to a significantly lower risk of death from any cause in people with cancer, finds a pooled data analysis of the available evidence, published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Tailored exercise to boost muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness in patients with cancer may help boost their chances of survival, suggest the researchers. In 2022 alone, 20 million people were diagnosed with cancer worldwide, and nearly 10 million died from their disease-trends that are projected to increase in the coming decades, note the researchers.
And despite notable advances in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, the side effects of treatment, including those on the heart and muscles, can take their toll on survival, they add. To inform potential options for extending survival in people diagnosed with cancer, the researchers set out to see if muscular strength and cardiorespiratory fitness might be associated with lower risks of death in these patients, and whether cancer type and stage might be influential. They searched for relevant studies published in English up to August 2023 and included 42 in their pooled data analysis, involving nearly 47,000 patients (average age 64) with various types and stages of cancer.
Low muscle strength, using handgrip strength, was classified as either less than 13 kg to less than 25 kg in women, and from less than around 20 kg to less than 40 kg in men. Cardiorespiratory fit.