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- FRIDAY, April 18 (HealthDay News) — Exercise may help improvefatigue caused by cancer and its treatments, new research says.

“A lot of time, the medical response to patients is that they shouldexpect to be fatigued, that it is a normal side effect. If patients aretold that fatigue is just a side effect and to accept it, what they arenot getting is any advice or support to help them cope,” review leadauthor Fiona Camp, a lecturer at the University of the West of England inBristol, said in a prepared statement.

Camp and her colleagues examined data on more than 2,000 cancerpatients in 28 studies, which tested exercise programs that lasted fromthree weeks to eight months. The typical duration was 12 weeks. Walkingand stationary bike riding were the most common types of exercise in thestudies.

The researchers found that exercise is more effective at combatingcancer-related fatigue than the usual care provided to patients.

“Exercise shouldn't be used in isolation but should definitely beincluded as one of the components in the package of interventions usedduring and after treatment,” Camp said.

She said a clearer “exercise prescription” for cancer patients can bedeveloped after experts learn more about what intensity, frequency,duration and kinds of exercise best suit cancer patients. Until then,available evidence shows that exercise therapists, physical therapists andexercise physiologists need to part of cancer patients' treatment teams,she added.

The review was published in the current issue of The CochraneLibrary.

The first step in treating cancer-related fatigue is to check for anyunderlying medical conditions (such as anemia or an underactive thyroid)that can cause fatigue-like symptoms, said exercise researcher KarenMustian, an assistant professor in the department of radiation oncology atthe University of Rochester School of Medicine. She was not involved inthe review.

“There will still be a fair amount of patients dealing with fatigueafter we get other situations under control,” Mustian said in a preparedstatement.

“I think it's safe to say at this point that the sort of generalizedguidelines of walking 30 minutes a day three to five times a weekgenerally help patients. We can't say what specific doses are best. Withthe evidence currently out there, we can't say much beyond that,” shesaid.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about cancer-related fatigue.