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Review
. 2022 Aug 27;14(17):4154.
doi: 10.3390/cancers14174154.

Physical Activity and Cancer Care-A Review

Weronika Misiąg  1 , Anna Piszczyk  1 , Anna Szymańska-Chabowska  2 , Mariusz Chabowski  3   4
Affiliations
Review

Physical Activity and Cancer Care-A Review

Weronika Misiąg et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

In 2020, 19.3 million new cancer cases were diagnosed, and almost 10 million deaths from cancer were recorded. Cancer patients may experience fatigue, depression, anxiety, reduced quality of life and sleep problems. Cancer treatments cause numerous side effects and have a negative impact on all body systems. Physical activity is important for cancer patients. The aim of this review is to analyse recent studies on the role of physical activity in cancer patients and emphasize its importance. The review included 36 papers published in English between 2017 and 2021. The findings from these studies show that physical activity decreases the severity of side effects of cancer treatment, reduces fatigue, improves quality of life, has a positive impact on mental health and improves aerobic fitness in cancer patients. Moreover, it reduces the risk of cancer recurrence and death. Physical activity is recommended for patients with any type of cancer and at all stages of treatment. The type of physical activity should depend on the condition of the individual patient. It is extremely difficult to determine what type, intensity and duration of physical activity is likely to have the greatest effect.

Keywords: cancer care; physical activity; quality of life; survivors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Identification of studies via databases.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A graphical abstract summarizing the presented results.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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