Although it may seem cruel to ask people in the throes of cancer treatment to hop on a treadmill or lift weights, Julie Main has long believed that exercise can play an important role in helping patients to heal.
"Surgery cured my cancer, but exercise got me through the whole process," said Main, who is general manager of the Santa Barbara Athletic Club.
Now scientific research is supporting her view. Physical activity, scientists are finding, can offset some of the debilitating effects of cancer treatment, including fatigue, weight gain, anxiety and depression.
"Patients who exercise report less fatigue, more energy and a better feeling of general well-being," said Dr. Anne McTiernan, director of the Prevention Center for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
In a study published in Cancer Practice in 2001, researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found that breast cancer patients who exercised three or more days a week for a total of at least 90 minutes reported significantly less fatigue and emotional distress, as well as a higher quality of life, than women who did no purposeful exercise.
Such findings are holding true for patients undergoing treatment for other forms of cancer too.
Dr. Fred Kass, medical oncologist and director of research for the Cancer Center of Santa Barbara, now recommends exercise for all his patients.
"I don't wear a sweatshirt and a whistle, but I do everything I can to get my patients to exercise during treatment," he said. "Doctors don't do patients any favors by promoting bed rest. It is absolutely clear that the more exercise patients get, the better they do."
He adds that although exercise doesn't erase all the side effects of cancer therapy, it makes them more manageable.
Main is the first to agree. Diagnosed at age 36 with Stage 2 breast cancer, meaning the cancer had spread but was not yet considered advanced, Main had a mastectomy, reconstruction and six months of chemotherapy.
Though fit when she was diagnosed, she was by no means an athlete. But during her chemotherapy, she exercised three to four days a week, taking group step classes at the gym, walking on the treadmill and doing weight training. "I never missed a day of work and continued to care for my two young children," she said, crediting her fitness regimen with giving her energy and stamina. Eleven years later, she's still cancer free.
