Cancer survivors urged to eat better, exercise

ATLANTA -- A cancer diagnosis often inspires people to exercise and eat healthier. Now the experts say there's strong evidence that both habits may help prevent the disease from coming back.

New guidelines issued yesterday by the American Cancer Society urge doctors to talk to their cancer patients about eating right, exercising and slimming down if they're too heavy.

That's not something most doctors do, said Dr. Omer Kucuk, an Emory University oncologist who has studied the effect of nutrition on prostate cancer.

They're focused on surgery, chemotherapy or other treatments, he said. "Usually the last thing on their mind is to talk about diet and exercise," he said.

Cancer society officials have long encouraged healthy eating and exercise to prevent certain cancers. But until now, the group didn't think there was enough research to support a strong statement for cancer survivors.

Hastine Reese, a breast cancer survivor, says she began to exercise because her husband, not her doctor, pushed her. Besides being good for her health, he thought it might help pull her out of the depression that followed her diagnosis and double-mastectomy.

"When you're first diagnosed with cancer, you go into a dark place," said Reese, as she finished a one-hour exercise class this week at DeKalb Medical Center in Decatur, Ga. Exercise has changed that. "I'm coming into the light, and it's getting brighter and brighter," she said.

Being overweight or obese has long been tied to an increased risk of several types of cancer, including cancers of the colon, esophagus, kidney, pancreas and, in postmenopausal women, breast. But there hadn't been much evidence on the effects of diet and exercise for people who had had cancer.

The last five years saw more than 100 studies involving cancer survivors, many showing that exercise and/or a healthy diet was associated with lower cancer recurrence rates and longer survival.

The cancer society notes that some people may be too weak at times for vigorous exercise. But even modest activities, like lifting soup cans while watching TV, can help, experts say.