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Exercise medicine highlights from the BMJ
Republished editorial: Physical activity for cancer survivors: Beneficial in the short term, but longer term outcomes are lacking
  1. Liam Bourke1, lecturer in public health research,
  2. Derek Rosario2, consultant urological surgeon,
  3. Robert Copeland3, principal research fellow,
  4. Stephanie Taylor4, professor of public health and primary care
  1. 1Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 2AT, UK
  2. 2Academic Urology Unit, Department of Oncology, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK S11 7FE.
  3. 3Centre for Sport and Exercise Science, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK
  4. 4Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 2AT, UK
  1. Correspondence to : Liam Bourke; l.bourke{at}qmul.ac.uk

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2012-d7998rep

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▸ This article is an abridged version of a paper that was published on bmj.com. Cite this article as: BMJ 2012;344:e7998

In 2008, more than 12 million people worldwide were diagnosed with cancer (http://globocan.iarc.fr/). Because of improvements in early diagnosis and the introduction of more aggressive treatments over the past 20 years, cancer survivors are now living longer.1 However, treatment often leads to a range of undesirable and debilitating adverse effects.

In the linked meta-analysis, Fong and colleagues assess the effects of physical activity after treatment for cancer on 48 separate health related outcomes.2 The potential for exercise interventions to benefit survivors of cancer is a burgeoning area of research, and systematic reviews and meta-analyses have reported that exercise can reduce fatigue and improve functional outcomes and health related quality of life.3⇓–5 These reports have also called for larger trials that have a greater focus on study quality and adverse events and longer follow-up.

Fong and colleagues' meta-analysis reviewed 34 randomised trials (of which 22 were …

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