The third annual Prostate Cancer Symposium may not seem a likely place to hear about aerobic or resistance exercise. However, there was an interesting report proving the value of resistance and aerobic exercise on those undergoing radiation therapy for prostate cancer.

Normally, you might expect that it would be better to rest and preserve your strength to fight the cancer. But, researchers found that by doing either aerobic or resistance exercise significantly improves both the aerobic capacity and decreases fatigue. Fatigue is one of the major negative results of radiation therapy.

Roanne Segal, M.D., of the University of Ottawa in Ontario and the Ottawa Regional Cancer Center and her team divided 121 men receiving radiation therapy for prostate cancer into three groups. One group was the control. There was no change in their schedule. One group was given an aerobic exercise program and the third group was given a resistance exercise program. The study lasted twenty six weeks.

Her research team enrolled the 121 men in the 26 week study to determine whether exercise could improve overall quality of life. The men's mean age was 66. The men were receiving active radiation doses totaling 66 to 76 Gray.

During the study, there were five negative events. One man in the aerobic exercise group had a heart attack during exercise. Another had a fainting spell. In the resistance exercise group, one man had chest pain, one had a urinary obstruction and another had nerve root compression. These incidents do not detract from the positive effects of the exercise. Furthermore, there is no way to directly connect the incidents to the exercise.

The aerobic and resistance exercise groups were found to have improved aerobic capacity and decreased fatigue. In addition the resistance group was found to have significantly improved upper and lower muscle endurance and reduced body fat.

The effect of the study showed that there were no detrimental effects of exercise training on prostate specific antigen, testosterone, or hemoglobin compared with the control group. total2page: Pre 1 Next