A brisk walk could help keep prostate cancer at bay

EXERCISE could be the best medicine for prostate cancer if the disease is caught early, doctors believe.

Walking, cycling, swimming and other regular physical activity may have the power to keep the disease in check, they suggest.

If a world-first trial proves exercise can keep a lid on prostate cancer, gym sessions and brisk walks could be prescribed by the NHS for up to a third of new patients.

Prostate cancer is the most common form of the disease in British men, with more than 43,000 cases and almost 11,000 deaths a year. Treatments include radiotherapy, chemotherapy, surgery and powerful drugs which, while successful, can cause impotence, incontinence and other long-lasting side effects.

The research, led by Sheffield Hallam University, will look at whether regular exercise can be prescribed as a substitute for conventional treatment if the disease is caught early enough.

Study leader Dr Liam Bourke said: ‘If we do find exercise is beneficial in helping control prostate cancer progression, then it might be that fewer men advance to a stage of cancer where they will have much more invasive treatment such as surgery and radiotherapy.

‘The idea exercise might help control prostate cancer progression and come with fewer side effects is really exciting for patients and maybe something the NHS can offer further down the line.’

Professor Malcolm Mason of Cancer Research UK, which is funding the study, said: ‘It could help discover if exercise is a viable treatment for some prostate cancer patients.’