Colon cancer trial finds benefit from a structured exercise programme after chemotherapy
A 2025 randomized study adds evidence for supported exercise after treatment in a defined group of colon cancer patients.
News report
A randomized trial reported on June 1, 2025, found longer disease-free survival among colon cancer patients assigned to a structured exercise programme after surgery and chemotherapy. The CHALLENGE study offers evidence for a supported programme within follow-up care for a defined patient group.
The trial enrolled 889 participants at 55 centers. They were assigned either a three-year exercise programme or health-education materials alone after completing adjuvant chemotherapy. The study was coordinated by the Canadian Cancer Trials Group and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
At five years, disease-free survival was 80.3% in the exercise group and 73.9% in the education group, an absolute difference of 6.4 percentage points. This outcome counted recurrence, a new primary cancer or death. It should not be described simply as a cure rate.
The researchers also reported findings consistent with longer overall survival, while musculoskeletal adverse events occurred more often in the exercise group: 18.5%, compared with 11.5%. The benefits and harms both form part of the result.
The programme involved sustained support, and its findings should not be generalized to every cancer, stage or unsupervised exercise plan. It did not replace surgery or chemotherapy. The advance is more specific: randomized evidence that a structured activity programme after treatment can improve outcomes for patients similar to those studied, with clinical services needed to adapt and deliver that support.
