How physical activity may help cancer survivors live longer

Staying fit and active has long been associated with better heart and overall health. It might also improve the chances of survival for people with some forms of cancer. A study published in the journal JAMA Network Open reports that staying active is linked to longer survival after a cancer diagnosis, including in people with bladder, kidney and lung cancers.

An international team of scientists combined data from six large, long-term health studies that included more than 17,000 survivors of seven cancers: bladder, endometrial, kidney, lung, oral, ovarian and rectal. They looked at how much exercise they did before their diagnosis and again about 2.8 years after. They adjusted for other factors like age, sex, smoking and the stage of cancer so that they could better estimate the specific impact of physical activity on survival.

They also tracked these survivors for an average of 11 years to see how their activity levels related to their risk of dying from the disease.

Exercise benefits

The results indicated that physical activity was associated with lower mortality risk for several cancer types. For example, people with oral cancer had a 61% lower risk of dying from the disease, while those with lung cancer saw a 44% reduction. Survivors of endometrial and bladder cancer also saw significant benefits, with their risks dropping by 38% and 33%, respectively.

One of the most encouraging aspects of the research was that it didn’t appear to matter if people didn’t exercise much before their diagnosis. Lung and rectal cancer survivors who were previously inactive but started exercising regularly after diagnosis saw a significantly lower risk of death (42% for lung cancer and 49% for rectal cancer).

For some cancers, patients didn’t even have to work up much of a sweat. For bladder, endometrial and lung cancer, even doing less than the standard 150-minute-per-week guidelines was better than doing nothing at all.

“Findings suggest that physical activity may benefit survivors of cancer, even if they were inactive prior to diagnosis,” commented the researchers in their paper.

Going the extra mile

They also noted that while any movement is good, doing more can lead to even better results for some people. Doubling or tripling the standard exercise recommendations saw the risk of death drop significantly for survivors of oral and rectal cancers.

With these findings in mind, the study authors suggest that staying active should be encouraged: “It is important for health care professionals to promote physical activity for longevity and overall health among people living with and beyond cancer.”

An Invited Commentary on the research was also published in JAMA Network Open.

© 2026 Science X Network