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High-intensity exercise interventions in cancer survivors: a systematic review exploring the impact on health outcomes

  • Review – Cancer Research
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

There is an increasing body of evidence underpinning high-intensity exercise as an effective and time-efficient intervention for improving health in cancer survivors. The aim of this study was to, (1) evaluate the efficacy and (2) the safety of high-intensity exercise interventions in improving selected health outcomes in cancer survivors.

Methods

Design Systematic review. Data sources Google Scholar and EBSCO, CINAHL Plus, Computers and Applied Sciences Complete, Health Source—Consumer Edition, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, MEDLINE, Web of Science and SPORTDiscuss from inception up until August 2017. Eligibility criteria Randomized controlled trials of high-intensity exercise interventions in cancer survivors (all cancer types) with health-related outcome measures. The guidelines adopted for this review were the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA).

Results

The search returned 447 articles, of which nine articles (n = 531 participants mean, age 58 ± 9.5 years) met the eligibility criteria. Exercise interventions of between 4 and 18 weeks consisting of high-intensity interval bouts of up to 4-min were compared with a continuous moderate intensity (CMIT) intervention or a control group. High-intensity exercise interventions elicited significant improvements in VO2 max, strength, body mass, body fat and hip and waist circumference compared with CMIT and/or control groups. The studies reviewed showed low risk in participating in supervised high-intensity exercise interventions. Mixed mode high-intensity interventions which included both aerobic and resistance exercises were most effective improving the aerobic fitness levels of cancer survivors by 12.45–21.35%, from baseline to post-intervention.

Conclusion

High-intensity exercise interventions improved physical and physiological health-related outcome measures such as cardiovascular fitness and strength in cancer survivors. Given that high-intensity exercise sessions require a shorter time commitment, it may be a useful modality to improve health outcomes in those who are time poor. The risk of adverse events associated with high-intensity exercise was low.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Discipline of Sport and Exercise Science, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, University Drive, Bruce, Canberra, ACT, 2617, Australia

    Kellie Toohey, Kate Pumpa, Andrew McKune, Julie Cooke & Stuart Semple

  2. Research Institute for Sport and Exercise, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia

    Kellie Toohey, Kate Pumpa, Andrew McKune, Julie Cooke & Stuart Semple

  3. Health Research Institute, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia

    Kellie Toohey & Stuart Semple

  4. Discipline of Biokinetics, Exercise and Leisure Sciences, School of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

    Andrew McKune

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  1. Kellie Toohey
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  2. Kate Pumpa
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  3. Andrew McKune
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  4. Julie Cooke
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  5. Stuart Semple
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Contributions

KT contributed to the design of the study, the literature search, data screening and extraction, statistical analyses, manuscript preparation, and submission. She is a guarantor. KP contributed to the design of the study, data screening, and extraction, and contributed to writing and editing of the manuscript. AM contributed to the design of the study, data screening, and extraction, and contributed theoretical expertise and writing and editing of the manuscript. JC contributed to the design of the study, data screening, and extraction, and contributed to writing and editing of the manuscript. S Semple contributed to the design of the study, data screening and extraction, provided methodological input and theoretical expertise and contributed to writing and editing of the manuscript. All authors meet the criteria for authorship, and K Toohey accepts to provide access to the data on request.

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Correspondence to Kellie Toohey.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

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Toohey, K., Pumpa, K., McKune, A. et al. High-intensity exercise interventions in cancer survivors: a systematic review exploring the impact on health outcomes. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 144, 1–12 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-017-2552-x

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