Over the last few years we've learned a lot about the links between obesity and both the
risk of developing and dying from cancer.
Although many people don't recognize this, being obese is a significant risk factor for
developing many common cancers.
More Recently there's also been data that shows that people who are obese when they're
diagnosed with cancer, especially with cancers like breast cancer and prostate cancer, also
seem to have a higher risk of developing a recurrence and dying from their disease.
Although we don't know for sure whether modifying weight after diagnosis will have an effect,
knowing that there's a link between obesity and cancer is important in oncology.
Many patients turn attention after completing their active cancer treatment to survivorship.
And this often can include a focus on healthy eating, losing weight, and increased physical
activity.
We also know that it's safe for most cancer patients to exercise all through their cancer
trajectory.
Remaining more physically active has been shown to help prevent people from gaining
weight during cancer therapy.
And so we encourage patients to be active during all parts of their cancer care.
We all know that we should exercise more, eat more healthfully, and weigh less.
This may be especially challenging for cancer survivors.
After going through months of rigorous therapy with chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery,
many patients are fatigued.
And fatigue can make it difficult to initiate a new program and especially to be more physically
active.
Cancer survivors may also be left with long-term toxicities of their therapy.
Things like neuropathy can make it very difficult to exercise more.
Patients may also be left with psychological impacts of their cancer treatment and diagnosis.
Patients may feel less comfortable wearing exercise clothing or being active in a gym
setting.
These things are all important to keep in consideration when a cancer survivor or a
person undergoing therapy thinks about how they can make healthy lifestyle changes.
It's very important to start with manageable goals.
If you're a person who's not been exercising for more than a year, it's probably not realistic
to sign up for a marathon.
You want to start slow with measurable goals.
Walk around the block twice a day.
Build up your strength gradually.
Make manageable changes in your dietary patterns.
Set goals that you can achieve and that will make you feel good, but focus on the fact
that you want to make these healthy lifestyle changes and that this is something that will
help build your strength and make you more healthful in the years to come.
As an oncologist, I know that my patients come to me frequently with many questions
about physical activity, diet, weight management strategies.
There's a lot of information and misinformation about these topics that's available on the
internet, through books.
Based on this, ASCO felt it was very important to develop materials that were evaluated by
medical oncologists and other specialists to provide patients with evidence-based recommendations
for weight management, diet, and physical activity suggestions after cancer diagnosis.
And these materials can be found on Cancer.Net, along with a lot of other information about
cancer diagnosis and treatment.