Keeping fit and building muscle could increase survival rates in cancer patients

Physical fitness and increasing muscle strength could reduce the mortality rate for cancer patients by between 31% to 46%, new research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has found.

Around 20 million new cancer cases were reported in 2022, with 9.7 million cancer deaths reported world-wide during the same period, with experts expecting the trend to increase in the coming decades.

ECU PhD student Mr Francesco Bettariga noted that in healthy adults, physical fitness and muscle strength has been associated with a 21% reduction in all-cause mortality, as well as a 15% reduction for cardiovascular disease mortality, and a 27% reduction for…