Could Exercise Be the Missing Prescription for Cancer Recovery?

I’ve long believed in the power of movement—but this study takes it a step further. If you’ve completed treatment for cancer or know someone who has, this research offers real, hopeful evidence: structured exercise might do more than boost mood—it may actually improve survival.

This June 2025 study by Courneya, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, investigated the long-term impact of exercise after adjuvant chemotherapy in cancer survivors. In a phase 3 randomized trial across 55 centers, 889 patients were assigned either to a 3-year structured exercise program or a health education group. After 8 years, the exercise group had significantly longer disease-free survival (80.3% vs. 73.9%) and overall survival (90.3% vs. 83.2%). Although musculoskeletal issues were more common in the exercise group, the survival benefits make a compelling case for integrating movement into recovery. Exercise is medicine.

Learn more: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2502760