Most doctors and nurses agree exercise is beneficial but don’t routinely prescribe exercise as part of their patients’ cancer treatment plan.
Photo credit: Exercise Oncology Team at Australian Catholic University
Historically the advice to cancer patients was to rest and avoid activity. We now know this advice may be harmful to patients, and that every person with cancer would benefit from exercise medicine.
Women with breast cancer face many treatment decisions on the path to survivorship. One question has been: Can they have fewer doses of radiation and still keep their risks for recurrence low?
Women with breast cancer often have six weeks of radiation therapy after surgery to remove the cancer. A recent study suggests that shortening that time is not only effective but also cost-saving.
The PBAC must make tough decisions about which cancer drugs to subsidise.
Eric Gaillard/Reuters
Most of us would agree that cancer drugs should be listed on the PBS, no matter how dear. But our health system can’t afford all of them. How then are decisions about which drugs to subsidise made?