How helpful is exercise for patients on ADT?

This is a great review of studies on exercise or diet that have been assessed with randomized control trials (RCTs) as interventions for managing the adverse effects of ADT. The paper confirms that exercise improves quality of life, even though the data so far fail to show substantial improvement in some health measures, such a body weight, blood pressure, or lipid profile. The authors astutely point out that patients randomized to the exercise arm of those studies were likely to have more contact with the interveners (e.g., supportive fitness trainers and researchers) than the subjects on the control arm and that may have contributed substantially to improving their quality of life.

No diet assessed via either of the two RCTs reviewed here showed benefit to patients on ADT, but the area is seriously under-investigated.

 

Teleni L, Chan RJ, Chan A, Isenring EA, Vela I, Inder W, McCarthy AL. 2016. Exercise improves quality of life in ADT-treated prostate cancer: systematic review of RCTs. Endocr Relat Cancer 23(2):101-112. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26584972