IMR Press / RCM / Volume 24 / Issue 6 / DOI: 10.31083/j.rcm2406160
Open Access Review
Current Evidence on the Benefit of Exercise in Cancer Patients: Effects on Cardiovascular Mortality, Cardiotoxicity, and Quality of Life
Show Less
1 Cardiology Department, Hospital Universitari Doctor Josep Trueta and Hospital Santa Caterina, 17007 Girona, Spain
2 Medical Science Department, School of Medicine, University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Spain
3 Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares (CIBERCV), 28029 Madrid, Spain
4 Dirección Territorial de Radiologia y Medicina Nuclear de Girona, Insititut de Diagnòstic per la Imatge (IDI), 17007 Girona, Spain
5 Radiation Oncology Department, Institut Català d’Oncologia, 17007 Girona, Spain
6 Radiation Oncology Department, Institut Català d’Oncologia, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, 08908 Barcelona, Spain
7 Center for Cardiovascular Genetics, Biomedical Research Institute of Girona, 17190 Girona, Spain
*Correspondence: moral.sergio@yahoo.es (Sergio Moral)
Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2023, 24(6), 160; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.rcm2406160
Submitted: 3 November 2022 | Revised: 15 February 2023 | Accepted: 17 February 2023 | Published: 6 June 2023
Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Cancer and its treatments affect cardiovascular (CV) health, including an increased risk of CV death, decreased cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and cardiac dysfunction. Moreover, cancer-related fatigue and worse quality of life (QoL) are highly prevalent adverse effects experienced by patients during treatment and can persist years after therapy ends. Physical exercise has been proposed as a strategy to improve different aspects of life of cancer patients, and is recommended as a therapy in cardio-oncology guidelines. Exercise interventions reduce fatigue and improve QoL in patients with both solid tumors and hematological malignancies, although there is a lack of awareness of exercise recommendations, timing, and referral to such programs. New evidence indicates that physical activities improve CRF, which can lead to a reduction in CV mortality. Furthermore, cardiac dysfunction is a side effect of many oncological treatments, which may be mitigated by exercise interventions according to preclinical studies and recent publications. Nevertheless, specific physical exercise programs are not widely used in cancer patients. Thus, the goal of this review was to describe the current evidence on the benefits of exercise in cancer patients, the gaps that remain, and an approach to exercise prescription.

Keywords
cardiotoxicity
cardiorespiratory fitness
cardio-oncology
cardiovascular health
Figures
Fig. 1.
Share
Back to top