B.C. Cancer looks to integrate rehab, exercise into patients’ care as soon as they’re diagnosed

B.C. Cancer is looking to integrate exercise into its recovery program for cancer patients as soon as they’re diagnosed, with one Kelowna doctor saying that research has shown that “prehabilitation” with exercise helps with long-term recovery.

Dr. Lauren Capozzi is B.C. Cancer’s first cancer physiatrist, according to the organization, and she’s leading an effort to add exercise into the recovery program for cancer patients in Kelowna.

Capozzi said her first-in-B.C. program seeks to integrate different specialists — physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians and speech therapists — into one team that will work with patients as soon as they’re diagnosed with cancer.

“Having that integrative team is essential because when we’re all in the same page, we can help to offer to optimize the care plan for that patient,” she said.

“We can reduce health-care dollars because we’re actually working together and optimizing.”

Capozzi’s cancer physiatry program started in September. Patients can access it through a referral from their primary care physician.

The program is part of an effort to expand cancer physiatry province-wide, she’s received 100 patient referrals in the last five months.

What is prehabilitation?

The doctor says prehabilitation involves getting cancer patients into shape and managing their pain prior to treatment and also helping them with recovery afterwards.

Capozzi said that it was a common misconception that rehabilitation from cancer started as soon as a patient’s treatment concluded.

However, starting an exercise program even before that, when the diagnosis is made, can allow patients to recover more quickly and get back to what they enjoyed.

“Last year, a groundbreaking study was published showing that exercise actually helps improve survival in patients living with colon cancer,” she said.

“So it’s now [a] really important part at B.C. Cancer, we’re starting to work [on] integrating exercise programs within our cancer care program.”

WATCH | Regular exercise improves colon cancer survival rates, study finds:

Exercise can improve colon cancer recovery, study suggests

A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that including exercise as part of colon cancer recovery can help reduce the risk of a relapse and lead to longer survival.

The study referenced by Capozzi, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine last June, found that for patients with colon cancer, regular structured exercise did make a difference. 

Seven years after being diagnosed, 90 per cent of the patients who took part in a structured exercise program over a three-year period were still living.

Capozzi hopes B.C. can be a leader in integrating exercise into cancer care programs, and her team is working to expand the program beyond Kelowna.