Cancer patients are routinely counseled on chemotherapy and scans, with barely a mention of workouts. Nina Agrawal reports in the New York Times on mounting evidence that structured exercise programs can keep certain cancers at bay and cut costs—yet remain largely unfunded and inaccessible. A major randomized trial in colon cancer found that patients who did supervised exercise over three years were less likely to see the cancer return and were more likely to be alive eight years later. The program’s price tag is about $3,000 per person, and it actually saved the health system money.
Despite that, insurers mostly don’t pay for “exercise oncology,” leaving many patients reliant on philanthropy, hospital pilots, or YMCA programs. One big exception: The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center will start covering a tailored exercise program for breast cancer patients through its employee health plan next year, in what its architect calls “a giant experiment.” If it works, it could help turn exercise from a suggestion into standard cancer care. Agrawal’s article, which includes the full data, patient stories, and policy stakes can be found here.