Exercise oncology from post-treatment to end of life: an overview of outcomes and considerations

Medical advances in the treatment of cancer have contributed to less invasive and more targeted strategies, as well as increasing effectiveness in terms of survival. However, receiving cancer treatment is also associated with a range of side effects, which persist throughout the post-treatment cancer survivorship phase or which may appear months to years after treatment cessation. Further, persistent and late treatment-related side effects, alongside disease- and treatment-related adverse changes in function and quality of life, are interrelated and influence survival. Physical activity, including exercise, represents an efficacious strategy for improving quality of survival, through prevention and better management of treatment-related sequelae and improvements in function, quality of life, and pre-existing comorbidities or other chronic disease, and has potential for improving quantity of survival (all-cause and cancer-specific mortality). This chapter will introduce survivorship concerns experienced during the post-treatment phase and will briefly discuss the role of physical activity, including exercise, post-treatment to end of life.