A high-intensity training program can be helpful in improving the mental and physical health of those who have chosen active surveillance for the management of low-grade prostate cancer. This was demonstrated by urologists and motor science experts at the Canadian University of Edmonton, Alberta, by publishing a study on Journal of Urology, journal of the American Urological Association. It is an important result, in particular – said senior author Kerry S. Courneya – for those patients who decide to have an operation or undergo treatment because they cannot bear the anxiety, the fear that their disease will progress. , while they are under active surveillance.
Prostate cancer: risk of death is reduced by 32.5% with a three-way attack
by Irma D’Aria
What is active surveillance
In recent decades, the number of patients with so-called indolent, low-grade or slow-growing tumors has increased. Before the analysis of PSA, the prostate-specific antigen, these forms of disease, which are of little significance from a clinical point of view, in many cases did not emerge: that is, they were not diagnosed. These patients generally today are not operated on or subjected to radiotherapy, but placed in a monitoring program – active surveillance, in fact – which consists in the dosage of the PSA, in biopsies and magnetic resonance at regular intervals. The aim of active surveillance is to keep the disease under control, of course, but by avoiding or delaying unnecessary treatments and their side effects, such as urinary incontinence or erectile dysfunction, which can be associated with treatment and surgery.
Meat, against cancer, the less you eat the better
Fear and quality of life
The fact is that many men, understandably – Courneya and her colleagues say – experience active surveillance with the constant worry that the cancer will progress. This inevitably ends up worsening the quality of life of these patients, so much so that even in the absence of tumor progression some of them decide to undergo a definitive surgical treatment or radiotherapy. In this context “interventions that reduce anxiety and fear (…) – write the authors of the research – can improve the quality of life and reduce the likelihood that these patients decide to undergo treatments that are not necessary from a medical point of view” .
Telemedicine, Puglia launches its platform for the remote management of chronic patients
by Elisa Manacorda
I study
The newly published results concern the second phase of the Erase study (Exercise During Active Surveillance for Prostate Cancer). The first had already investigated the effect of a 12-week high-intensity exercise program (or HIIT, which stands for high-intensity interval exercise training) on men under active surveillance, and the results showed that in the group of patients on treatment there was a significant improvement in cardiovascular level and a reduction in PSA compared to the control group.
Prostate cancer, artificial intelligence passes the exam
by Mara Magistroni
The new data tells us that, in addition to the body, exercise acts – and well – also on the mind. This time the Canadian researchers enrolled 50 patients from those who had already taken part in ERASE: 25 assigned to the HIIT program and 25 in the control group. In HIIT patients there was a small but significant reduction in tumor-related anxiety: an average difference (between treated and controls) of about 3 points on a scale of 54. Regarding the fear of disease progression, the reduction was greater: 2 points on a scale of 12.
More energy and less depression
Men who took the HIIT program also felt less depressed, with more energy, and kept their body weight constant. The HIIT program also reduced stress and fatigue and significantly increased self-esteem. And that is, ultimately, the quality of life, the general state of health and emotional well-being. A lot of research has already shown that exercise can help cancer sufferers manage anxiety better. But this “study – comments and concludes Coureneya – is the first to indicate that there is an improvement in anxiety and fear of disease progression in men under active surveillance.” To confirm these results and demonstrate long-term benefits, physical and psychological, physical exercise in this particular and increasing type of patients will require more extensive investigations.