Cancer survivors and exercise: It’s a good thing

If anyone serves as a larger-than-life example of the ability to survive cancer and return to physical exercise, it’s Lance Armstrong. The premier U.S. road-racing cyclist won a record seven Tour de France competitions from 1999 to 2005 after having undergone surgery and chemotherapy treatments for testicular cancer that had spread to other parts of his body.

Three years ago, Livestrong, the cancer-fighting foundation Armstrong created, teamed up with YMCAs nationwide to offer fitness training programs for those with cancer and those who have survived the disease.

A panel of the American College of Sports Medicine that convened to issue exercise guidelines for cancer survivors concluded in part: “[A]lthough there are specific risks associated with cancer treatments that need to be considered when survivors exercise, there seems to be consistent evidence that exercise is safe during and after cancer treatment.” (Read the entire report published in July in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.)

Some cancer patients and survivors choose to tackle the toughest competitions. The Los Angeles Times reports on a driven athlete who will take on one of Hawaii’s toughest contests this weekend in “Ironman contestant’s biggest foe? Cancer.”

-- Mary Forgione / Los Angeles Times