Overview
- The meta-analysis, published 15 September 2026, pooled 21 randomized trials from an initial 123 studies and about 8,449 participants to test whether structured exercise affects survival and recurrence.
- Pooled results showed people assigned to exercise programmes were 23% less likely to die and 17% less likely to have a cancer recurrence before death than controls based on the combined trial data.
- Benefits were strongest for aerobic programmes or combined aerobic plus strength training and for participants who completed at least 70% of their prescribed sessions.
- Authors propose biological pathways such as immune cell mobilisation, better tumour blood flow, lower circulating sex hormones, greater muscle glucose use, and improved DNA repair, but they note large variation in interventions.
- The evidence is largely from breast cancer and mostly women, control groups sometimes changed behaviour, and researchers and Cancer Research UK say exercise support should be offered in survivorship care while further trials refine dose, timing, and use in advanced disease.