Cancer: Improving diet and exercise could boost cancer survival rates, researchers suggest

Taking exercise classes and eating healthier could improve survival rates among cancer patients.

New research from University Hospital Southampton suggests a link between a cancer patient's fitness and how they fare in surgery. The study claims that a programme of six-week high intensity exercise between chemotherapy and surgery can return a patient's fitness to pre-chemo levels.

It comes after a study in Chicago proved that a short course of yoga could lower levels of inflammation in cancer survivors.

Professor Mike Grocott, head of the critical care research group, said: "We know that in major surgery, physical fitness has a big impact on how fast you recover, your chances of complications and your long-term outcomes. Not only have we shown this improvement in pre-surgery fitness, evidence of reduced complications and massively improved quality of life, we’ve also published data showing that this kind of exercise results in the tumour itself shrinking ahead of surgery.

Dr David Selwyn, director of the Centre for Perioperative Care (CPC) at the Royal College of Anaesthetists, added: "There is substantial evidence that there is a correlation between the patient’s pre-operation health and the chance their operation will have to be cancelled, or that they will experience surgical complications.

"This can be due to a range of health and lifestyle issues, such as smoking, physical inactivity, frailty or unaddressed diabetes or anaemia.

"We need to transform waiting lists into preparation lists, where hospitals provide early screening and prehabilitation services that actively help people address any issues identified before they undergo surgery."