Cancer and exercise: Using the evidence to optimize functioning for our patients
The benefits of exercise are well established as safe and effective for individuals going through cancer treatment. Exercise interventions are effective during and after cancer treatment to enhance physical function, improve psychological status, and mitigate many of the common side effects associated with medical treatment of cancer.
However, exercise prescription and rehabilitation services are not routinely integrated into oncology care and many health care providers fail to proactively include exercise as a part of standard oncology care.
This lecture will review the emergence of evidence that supports exercise for the oncology population, identify where the field is today with regard to the evidence base and will suggest ways, that physiotherapists can improve their knowledge and skills in an effort to better integrate exercise into cancer care plans.
The overall benefits of exercise will be discussed as well as therapeutic interventions that use exercise to discretely target specific impairments such as fatigue, lymphedema, cardiorespiratory deconditioning, muscle wasting and others.
Exercise will be reviewed across all cancer types and will explore the effectiveness of exercise intervention throughout the continuum of cancer care, from prehabilitation to end of life.
Anna Campbell
Dr. Anna Campbell is Associate Professor at Edinburgh Napier University. For over seventeen years, Anna Campbell has researched the physical and psychological benefits of staying active after a cancer diagnosis; publishing over 45 research papers and three book chapters in the field of exercise and cancer survivorship.
Anna was instrumental in putting research into practice in the UK: producing two exercise DVDs for cancer survivors; setting up the first free community based exercise programme; and she is Director of CanRehab (www.canrehab.co.uk), which provides training and education for fitness and health professionals working with cancer survivors in the community.
Anna is also a consultant for the UK charity Macmillan Cancer Care, assisting in the establishment and evaluation of UK wide community based exercise programmes for cancer patients and survivors.
Nicole L. Stout
Dr. Nicole L. Stout is a renowned health care researcher, consultant, educator, and advocate. She is the chief executive officer of 3e Services, an information technology consulting firm, where she serves as a medical affairs consultant for biotech and health care wearable firms. Additionally, she supports the Office of Strategic Research at the National Institutes of Health, Rehabilitation Medicine Department leading the Cancer Rehabilitation Initiative.
Dr. Stout is an internationally recognized expert and leader in cancer rehabilitation and lymphedema. She has given over 200 lectures nationally and internationally, authored and co-authored over 50 peer-review and invited publications, several book chapters, and is the co-author of the book 100 Questions and Answers about Lymphedema. Her research publications have been foundational in developing the Prospective Surveillance Model for breast cancer rehabilitation and supporting national initiatives in cancer rehabilitation.
Dr. Stout is the recipient of numerous research and publication awards. She has received service awards from the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, the Navy Surgeon General, and the Oncology Section of the American Physical Therapy Association and was recently selected as a Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association.