26 February 2026
The cancer treatment that has been hiding in plain sight
By Tim Baker
If you take even a passing interest in the world of cancer research, you could’ve hardly missed the recent deluge of research papers and enthusiastic proclamations around the wonders of exercise oncology.
Exercise, we can now confidently say, isn’t just about quality of life or managing side effects of treatment, but holds the potential to improve your prognosis. The Challenge Phase III Trial provides the most robust evidence to date for the promise of exercise to extend survival and prevent recurrence, with huge implications for cancer care.
Does this mean that gyms full of stationary bikes and weight machines could soon replace chemo wards? In a word, no. This study was for colon cancer and can’t just be extrapolated across cancer streams. And there will always be cancers that require aggressive treatment to save or extend life. But it does mean any cancer physician who claims to be practising evidence-based medicine should be prescribing supervised exercise with a suitably qualified exercise physiologist as part of standard care.
Cancer patients were once considered too frail to exercise and were instead urged to rest. This outdated advice has been thoroughly refuted by one of the pioneers of exercise oncology, Dr Robert Newton, in his new book My Exercise Medicine For Cancer. Subtitled How exercise awakens the body’s own medicine to treat cancer, Dr Newton lays out the case for exercise in the most emphatic fashion, drawing on his 20 years of research as one of the world’s leading researchers on the topic.
He writes: “For years, observational studies have shown that patients who exercise live longer than those who remain inactive. But observational studies can only show association; they cannot prove causation. Critics argued that perhaps healthier patients were simply more active and that exercise itself might not be the driver. That debate is now over.”
Dr Newton goes on to cite the Challenge Trial, that showed exercise out-performed chemotherapy in extending survival for patients with colon cancer. He goes on to say, “This finding redefines what patients should expect from supportive care ... When a medication demonstrates a survival benefit of this magnitude, it becomes standard care worldwide. It is added to guidelines, taught in medical schools, funded by healthcare systems, and integrated into every treatment plan.”
Exercise doesn’t have to mean running a marathon or bench pressing your own body weight. Everyone can do more than they are currently doing, when safely supervised.
As Dr Newton writes: “The evidence is overwhelming. Exercise is not only safe for people with cancer; it is one of the most powerful treatments available.”
Disclaimer: This article is not intended as medical advice and any decisions around treatments should be made in consultation with your primary cancer physician.
References:
Kerry S. et al, June 2025. Structured Exercise after Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Colon Cancer. N Engl J Med 2025 ;393:13-25, DOI: 10.10456/NEJMoa2502760
Newton, R. U. 2025. My Exercise Medicine For Cancer, Optimal Kinetics, Brisbane.
About the author
Tim Baker is an award-winning author, journalist and storyteller specialising in surfing history and culture, working across a wide variety of media from books and magazines to film, video, and theatre.
Tim was diagnosed with stage 4, metastatic prostate cancer in 2015 with a Gleason score 9. He was told he had just five years of reasonable health left, but eight years on, at 58, he’s still surfing, writing, and enjoying being a dad
For more information and support, email telenurse@pcfa.org.au or call 1800 22 00 99.
