Forest Hill patient at forefront of Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital research proving exercise will help throat cancer sufferers with recovery

BY TOBY PORTER
toby@slpmedia.co.uk

A cancer patient is at the forefront of a campaign to encourage fellow sufferers to exercise during their treatment – to increase their chances of recovery.

Alan Holman, from Forest Hill, took part in coached exercise sessions once a week, and did exercises at home around once a week.

He did the sessions while he was having chemotherapy for throat cancer – and in the run-up to an op in May 2017.

He then had sessions closer to his home in Ewart Road, and is still leading an active life since he finished his treatment.

The 70-year-old, from Ewart Road, is helping prove a moderate exercise programme could improve the success of chemotherapy treatment in oesophageal cancer patients.

He is part of a study at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

The research, which involved 40 oesophageal cancer patients, shows that exercise can be safely included as part of cancer treatment. It was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Alan said: “Once I started the chemotherapy, it was tiring, but doing an hour with the trainer, you come out feeling better. It definitely helped to get me back to my pre-op weight, and got me through the chemotherapy.

“I’m not one for sitting in doors all day. When I was working I had a very active job, and was walking a lot every day. Now I try to get to the gym once a week, and get out for a walk at least once every day.”

Moderate exercise was also shown to reduce some of the negative effects of chemotherapy on fitness, meaning that it could help to make chemotherapy an option for more patients. The authors say the results indicate a larger study is needed to confirm the findings.

Chemotherapy is a standard treatment for a range of cancers, including oesophageal cancer, which affects the oesophagus, sometimes called the gullet or food pipe.

It can have negative side effects for patients including tiredness, sickness and risk of infection. Because of this, clinicians weigh up the positive and negative effects for each patient before using this treatment.

The trial looked at the impact of ‘prehabilitation’ exercise – a guided exercise programme in which patients received regular training sessions before and during their chemotherapy treatment.

They were also provided with instructions on how to continue the exercise programme at home.

The patients were compared with a group of patients who had a similar age and clinical status before the chemotherapy.

The team looked at tumour samples, CT scans and immune markers from the patients.

They found that those who had taken part in the exercise programme showed a better response to the chemotherapy, with their tumours shrinking more, and being more likely to be ‘down-graded’ – assessed as being less advanced.

The study was led by Mr Andrew Davies, consultant in upper gastro-intestinal surgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’.

He said: “This is a small study, but a promising one, as it shows how a moderate exercise programme could help to improve the success of chemotherapy treatment.

We want to confirm this effect in further studies, but conceivably this may benefit patients with other types of cancer and be a cost-effective way to improve the effectiveness of treatment.”

Pictured: Alan Holman