Exercising during Chemotherapy Can Dramatically Help Shrink Tumours

Exercise and chemotherapy shrinks tumors more than chemo alone

• It increases blood flow to tumor, bringing more cancer-fighting drugs
• Means even walking could reduce dose needed - and therefore side effects
• Study looked at common chemotherapy drug doxorubicin

Combining exercise with chemotherapy boosts the cancer-fighting effects of the drugs more than the treatment alone.

U.S. researchers discovered those who exercised while receiving chemotherapy had 'significantly smaller' tumors after two weeks than those that had only received common chemotherapy drug 'doxorubicin'.

They believe this could be because exercise increases blood flow to the tumor, bringing with it more of the drug in the bloodstream.

If exercising along with chemotherapy shrinks tumors in this way, patients could potentially use a smaller dose of the chemotherapy drug in order to suffer fewer of its side effects, the authors said.

The study could also pave the way for developing drugs that mimic the effects of exercise, they added.

Doxorubicin, also known as Adriamycin, is a drug commonly used in chemotherapy treatment for cancer.

Among side effects such as hair loss, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, it can also cause damage to heart cells, which could lead to heart failure in the long term.

Previous research has shown that an exercise regime taken before receiving chemotherapy could protect heart cells from the toxic effects of doxorubicin.