Cancer Rehab: The Role of Exercise
For most people dealing with cancer, exercise isn’t top of mind — and this makes perfect sense. Between treatments, appointments, and managing side effects, there’s so much happening.
Yet new research is revealing that exercise, when introduced safely and gradually, can be an important part of recovery, with benefits that reach far beyond fitness.
What Does the Research Say About Exercise and Cancer?
For years, we’ve known that exercise can help people feel better during and after cancer treatment — reducing anxiety and depression, improving sleep, and easing fatigue(1). It also can lessen treatment side effects and help people stay on schedule with their therapy.
These benefits alone can make a real difference. But the newest research shows something even more remarkable.
A large Canadian study 🇨🇦 — known as the CHALLENGE Trial — found that structured exercise after chemotherapy can actually improve survival in people with colon cancer(2).
The study followed more than 900 people who had completed treatment for stage 3 or high-risk stage 2 colon cancer. Half took part in a structured exercise program, and half received usual care.
After several years of follow-up, the results were striking:
80% of those in the exercise group were cancer-free at five years, compared with 74% in the usual-care group.
90% were alive after eight years, compared with 83% in the usual-care group.
In research, that’s a big difference — similar in size to some standard drug treatments.
Now, I love a good statistic. But what really matters is the story behind them. Exercise after treatment didn’t just help people feel better, it helped them live longer and reduced the chance of cancer returning.
Are You Seriously Asking Me to Go to a Gym?
The short answer: no, you don’t have to go to a gym — not unless you want to.
The exercise programs in this study weren’t about intense or vigorous workouts. Participants focused on moderate activity — about 90 minutes per week of aerobic exercise (like walking) and two days per week of strengthening exercises (like lifting light weights).
So what exercise should you do? The best exercise is the one you’re most likely to do. That might mean walking, biking, dancing, stretching, yoga, gardening, light weights…I could go on and on! The point is to start moving more and do whatever feels safe and enjoyable for you.
For many people — especially those who are immunocompromised or live in rural areas — a home-based program can be an ideal way to stay active. The key is an individualized approach that adapts to your changing needs and energy levels.
If you’re not sure where to start, reach out to your physiotherapist for guidance in your cancer rehabilitation.
References:
Leclerc AF, Foidart-Dessalle M, Tomasella M, Coucke P, Devos M, Bruyère O, Bury T, Deflandre D, Jerusalem G, Lifrange E, Kaux JF, Crielaard JM, Maquet D. Multidisciplinary rehabilitation program after breast cancer: benefits on physical function, anthropometry and quality of life. Eur J Phys Rehabil Med. 2017 Oct;53(5):633-642. doi: 10.23736/S1973-9087.17.04551-8. Epub 2017 Mar 20. PMID: 28322035.
Courneya KS, O’Brien P, Vardy JL, Friedenreich CM, Campbell KL, Adams SC, et al. Structured Exercise after Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Colon Cancer. New England Journal of Medicine. 2025;392(13):1210–1221. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2410111