The benefits associated with staying active are widely understood, with physical activity being shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and depression, to name only a few.
“If there was a pill that produced all the benefits of exercise, it would be a very easy sell,” says Lisa Cadmus- Bertram, an assistant professor with the Department of Kinesiology and the director of the Wisconsin Physical Activity Epidemiology Lab.
Cadmus-Bertram isn’t in the pharmaceutical industry. Instead, she has dedicated much of her career to connecting the dots between the benefits of physical activity and the decreased risk of chronic disease, particularly cancer.
Much of this work is focused on finding effective ways to integrate the promotion of physical activity into prescribed clinical care for cancer survivors. Not long ago, Cadmus- Bertram says such efforts were often viewed as pie-in-the-sky thinking. The health care industry, after all, centers its resources on the treatment of problems once they are diagnosed, instead of prevention.
But over the past couple of years, she is sensing a shift.
Cardiac patients, for example, already receive rehabilitation and support to help them adopt healthy behaviors, notes Cadmus-Bertram. And in October, a global panel of exercise oncology experts published guidelines recommending the systematic use of an “exercise prescription” to help cancer patients cope with treatment and lower the risk of developing certain cancers.
So perhaps it’s not a giant leap to think similar care could be part of cancer survivorship plans.
In an effort to better quantify the benefits of physical activity for cancer survivors, Cadmus-Bertram and colleagues are in the midst of several research projects, including:
• A clinical trial, backed by the National Cancer Institute, that focuses on endometrial cancer survivors. This study is examining benefits of building muscle mass and strength. Participants are evaluated for factors such as functional fitness and quality of life indicators. They then receive exercise equipment, access to online exercise videos, and 10 weeks of in-person and video call instruction.
• A clinical trial, also backed by the National Cancer Institute, that builds off promising findings from an earlier survivorship trial Cadmus-Bertram conducted three years ago. In this new version, cancer survivors who enroll will be given a Fitbit and activity data will link to electronic health records and allow for other intervention components, such as membership to an online gym with exercise videos or telephone-based coaching.
• A mixed methods study, backed by the Virginia Horne Henry Committee, will similarly examine the importance of physical activity for patients with metastatic or otherwise non-curable cancers. This project consists of interviews with adults living with multiple myeloma or with Stage 4 breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer.
“There once was this big canyon between what our research was showing in terms of the value of exercise — and any movement to embed exercise and lifestyle changes into cancer survivorship plans,” says Cadmus- Bertram, who is a member of the Cancer Prevention and Control program at the UW Carbone Cancer Center. “We’re making progress and I’m optimistic, but closing that final gap is going to be the hardest part of this work.”