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MOVEMENT MATTERS – THE PROOF

“If exercise was a pill it would be prescribed to everyone”.

We’ve been proud to share this statement on our website for years. We’ve long believed that exercise is beneficial for people with cancer. And now the publication of an international study this week has added important weight to all that. We are thrilled!

The trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that a 3-year structured exercise programme initiated soon after chemotherapy for colon cancer resulted in “significantly longer disease-free survival and findings consistent with longer overall survival”. 

Our MOVE Against Cancer co-founder, oncologist Dr Lucy Gossage, says the study is a gamechanger. “This is the first published randomised controlled trial which has tested exercise in exactly the same way as drugs are tested. It’s such compelling data. In the study, patients who had completed chemotherapy after surgery for bowel cancer were either given a 3 year, personalised exercise programme with the support of a personal trainer or were given general health education materials promoting exercise and nutrition. The results were astounding. The risk of developing a cancer recurrence or a new cancer was 28% lower in the group given the exercise programme! And after 8 years the risk of dying from any cause was 37% lower in the group given the exercise programme. These benefits are huge! They’re as big, if not bigger, than many of the drugs that we prescribe, many of which have horrible side effects and are super expensive. We now have definitive proof that we should be prescribing exercise, alongside our prescriptions for drugs and radiotherapy.

At MOVE Against Cancer we’ve always known that exercise is a good thing. From the people who come to our 5k Your Way groups to the young people who go through our Online programme – we’ve heard their stories and we’ve seen the benefits. Anecdotally we know it works. We know it makes people feel better; we know it reduces fatigue; and we know it adds huge benefits to quality of life. Now we’ve got evidence it also reduces the risk of cancer coming back”. 

Over the past nine years we have heard countless stories from people in our community whose lives have changed as a result of being active. Jason was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 29. He says if it wasn’t for the support of MOVE getting him active again he wouldn’t be where he is today. “Back at the start I couldn’t walk up the stairs without being breathless but now I go to the gym and I’m so much fitter. Exercise has helped my mental health so much too”.

Since 2016 our mission has been to support, inspire and empower people impacted by cancer to live an active and fulfilling life. The charity was founded by former international athlete Gemma Hillier Moses after she was diagnosed with Burkitt Lymphoma at the age of 24. She needed support to stay active during and after treatment and regain her fitness but the support just didn’t exist. She created MOVE Against Cancer charity with the goal of providing other young people with cancer the kind of support she didn’t receive. Our MOVE Online Programme has now supported over 500 young people with cancer. People like 12-year-old Andrew whose mum Stephanie says: “It gave him the permission to exercise. It was amazing to see his progress, not just physically but also to witness his confidence growing”.

Two years after the charity was founded Lucy came on board and together she and Gemma created the community-based 5k Your Way initiative. “The idea for 5KYW came when I was working with some teenage and young adult patients”, says Lucy. ”Many of these patients receive long, tough courses of chemotherapy. During treatment they do little other than sit in their hospital room. After treatment we offer little to help them regain their fitness. I wanted to set up something that would help change this. I knew that the best way to instigate change would be by including healthcare professionals in the change. What better way to do this by creating a community within the wonderful community that is parkrun?”

Since launching that first group in Nottingham the initiative has grown and there are now over 100 groups across the UK and Ireland. Dan says “At a time in my life where everyone told me to rest and hide from the world while I started dealing with my cancer, 5k Your Way gave me the permission, motivation and drive to keep active”.

Exercise is one of the most important things anyone diagnosed with cancer can do to enhance wellbeing and improve health outcomes both during and after treatment. It reduces cancer-related fatigue, boosts energy, improves fitness and physical conditioning. It reduces stress, depression and anxiety, improves quality of life, builds self-confidence and increases self-esteem. Now we also have definitive proof that it reduces risk of recurrence.

Ann, who’s living with stage 4 breast cancer, decided that her 100th cancer treatment was worth marking. “It was a good opportunity to show that you can live with cancer and you can live well while you’re on cancer treatment. Picking up on the 5k theme of 5k Your Way I decided to run 100k between January and March this year, ahead of my 100th cancer treatment in April. I then asked other cancer patients if they’d like to come on board and do 100 movements their way over the course of the three months and before I knew it, the idea had grown and grown! Cancer patients from all over were joining in. Such a personal and public joy!”

Ann – and hundreds of others – are showing what’s possible. This important new research – at an internationally recognised level – builds on the evidence that exercise works. And movement really does matter.