Aerobic exercise can be regarded as beneficial for individuals with cancer-related fatigue during and postcancer therapy, specifically those with solid tumors, say authors of an updated version of an original Cochrane review published in The Cochrane Library in 2008.    

For this update, the authors searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, British Nursing Index, AMED, SIGLE, Dissertation Abstracts International, and reference lists of all studies identified for inclusion and relevant reviews. In addition, they hand-searched relevant journals and contacted experts in the field of cancer-related fatigue.

They identified a total of 56 studies (4,068 participants) for inclusion (28 from the original search and 28 from the updated search), with the majority carried out in participants with breast cancer (28 studies). A meta-analysis of all fatigue data, incorporating 38 comparisons, provided data for 1,461 participants who received an exercise intervention and 1,187 control participants. At the end of the intervention period exercise was seen to be statistically more effective than the control intervention. Benefits of exercise on fatigue were observed for interventions delivered during or postadjuvant cancer therapy. In relation to diagnosis, the authors identified benefits of exercise on fatigue for breast and prostate cancer but not for those with hematological malignancies. Aerobic exercise significantly reduced fatigue, but resistance training and alternative forms of exercise failed to reach significance.

"We're not expecting people to go out and be running a mile the next day," Fiona Cramp, who worked on the analysis at the University of the West of England in Bristol, told Reuters News. "Some people will be well enough that they're able to go for a jog or go for a bike ride, and if they can, that's great. But we would encourage people to start with a low level."