What 2.7M Adults Reveal About Exercise After A Cancer Diagnosis

After cancer treatment, getting back into exercise can be complicated. Fatigue, changes to your routine, or uncertainty about what's safe for your body can make it hard to know where to start.

And while 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week is the standard recommendation, you don't necessarily begin there.

In a recent large-scale study, researchers compared physical activity among more than 2.7 million U.S. adults with and without a history of cancer. The findings point to a gap that happens before the 150-minute goal even enters the picture.

About the study

Researchers analyzed national survey data from 2018 to 2024, including more than 2.7 million U.S. adults. They divided participants into two groups: those with a history of cancer and those without one.

Participants reported whether they had done any physical activity, such as walking, gardening, or exercising, during the previous month. Researchers also examined more detailed activity data from 2019 and 2023 to determine who was meeting the national recommendation of at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week.

They also compared physical activity patterns across different cancer types, including breast, prostate, and colon cancer.

The biggest gap came before the 150-minute mark

The bigger divide wasn't how much active cancer survivors were exercising. It was whether they were active at all. Nearly 30% of adults with a cancer history reported doing no physical activity in the previous month, compared with about 24% of adults without a cancer history.

But among people who did report being physically active, the gap between the two groups was much smaller. In 2019, about half of physically active adults with a cancer history were meeting the 150-minute weekly exercise recommendation, compared with about half of physically active adults without a cancer history. By 2023, those numbers had increased to roughly 60% in both groups.

There was also progress over time. The share of cancer survivors reporting any physical activity increased significantly during the study period, while the increase among adults without a cancer history wasn't statistically significant.

Activity increased among people with colon cancer and some other cancer types, but not among those with breast or prostate cancer histories.

Getting back into movement can start small

If you're a cancer survivor who isn't exercising right now, you don't have to jump straight to 150 minutes a week. What feels realistic can depend on your treatment history, current energy levels, and how your body is recovering.

The takeaway

For cancer survivors, the first step may simply be finding a way to move regularly.

Once they were active, survivors were meeting exercise guidelines at rates similar to people without a cancer history.