Cancer patients with high muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness levels have significantly lower risk for all-cause mortality
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Jan. 23, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For patients diagnosed with cancer, high muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) are associated with a reduced risk for all-cause mortality, according to a review published online Jan. 21 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Francesco Bettariga, from the Exercise Medicine Research Institute at Edith Cowan University in Joondalup, Australia, and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the association of muscle strength and CRF with all-cause and cancer-specific mortality in patients diagnosed with cancer. Data were included from 42 studies, with 46,694 participants.
The researchers found that compared with those with low physical fitness levels, cancer patients with high muscle strength or CRF levels had a significant reduction in the risk for all-cause mortality by 31 to 46 percent. Per unit increments in muscle strength, there was a significant 11 percent reduction seen in all-cause mortality. In patients with advanced cancer stages, muscle strength and CRF were associated with an 8 to 46 percent reduced risk for all-cause mortality, while the risk was reduced by 19 to 41 percent in patients with lung and digestive cancers. There was a significant 18 percent reduction seen in the risk for cancer-specific mortality in association with unit increments in CRF.
“From a practical perspective, implementing tailored exercise prescriptions to enhance muscle strength and CRF throughout the cancer continuum may contribute to reducing cancer-related mortality,” the authors write.
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