Patients with cancer undergo various treatments including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy managed by oncology and related specialties. There are certain additional measures that patients can take on their own to improve symptoms and often increase longevity. Lifestyle measures include nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress management, adequate social interaction, and avoiding risky substances. These form the six pillars of Lifestyle Medicine. In addition, spiritual matters are very important.

It has been known that exercise can prevent cancer, but only recently has there been a randomized controlled trial in patients with stage III or high-risk stage II colon cancer that showed decreased mortality with regular exercise. (New England Journal of Medicine 2025: 393:13-25). These are patients whose cancer had spread through the bowel wall to nearby structures or lymph nodes but not distant spread. After surgery and chemotherapy, patients were randomized to a structured exercise program or to only receive health education materials. There was significant improvement in survival in the exercise group versus the education group, without cancer return at five years, as well as decreased mortality at almost eight years. Improvements with exercise are in addition to those seen with the primary therapies.