HoldsUp

Kerry Courneya

Kerry Courneya, PhD, is a researcher studying the effects of exercise and physical activity in cancer care and survivorship. His research evaluates the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of various structured exercise interventions—such as aerobic, resistance, and high-intensity interval training—in patients with cancers including breast, colorectal, prostate, bladder, and endometrial cancer. His publications investigate outcomes related to cancer survival, treatment tolerance, health-related fitness, quality of life, and the economics of exercise interventions.

61 claims checked on air: 1 contradicted 2 overstated 54 supported 4 unverified

What they said on air - citing their own research

6 citing their own research

0:00:43overstatedlowtheir own paperThe Science of Exercise for Cancer | Kerry Courneya, PhD

Cancer patients who exercise while undergoing chemoradiation therapy are more likely to achieve a complete pathological response prior to surgery.

"And what we found is the patients who exercise while getting this chemoradiation therapy were more likely to have a complete response, meaning the tumors were completely gone prior to having the surgery." (said at 0:00:43)

A Phase II randomized controlled trial in 36 patients with rectal cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiation (the EXERT trial) found that patients assigned to an exercise program had a significantly higher rate of complete or near-complete pathological response compared to usual care (56% vs 18%, p = 0.020). Observational cohort data also associate moderate-to-vigorous physical activity with increased tumor downstaging. However, claiming broadly that exercising cancer patients achieve higher complete response rates overstates the current body of evidence, which is derived from preliminary Phase II trial data and observational studies specifically in rectal cancer; larger Phase III trials are required to establish efficacy.

0:46:55supportedmoderatetheir own paperThe Science of Exercise for Cancer | Kerry Courneya, PhD

In a study of rectal cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiation, patients who exercised were more likely to achieve a complete pathological response prior to surgery.

"So in actual studies with patients, we did a study in rectal cancer patients, and the treatment for them is a combination of chemoradiation therapy prior to having the tumor surgically removed 12 weeks later. So they want to shrink and try and eliminate that tumor. And what we found is the patients who exercised while getting this chemoradiation therapy were more likely to have a complete response, meaning the tumors were completely gone prior to having the surgery." (said at 0:46:55)

The speaker's research group conducted the EXERT phase II randomized controlled trial (n = 36) evaluating supervised and home-based exercise in rectal cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT) prior to surgery. In this trial, 56% (10 of 18) of patients in the exercise arm achieved a pathologic complete response or near complete response (pCR/near pCR) compared to 18% (3 of 17) in the usual care arm (P = .020). Because this was a small preliminary phase II trial, authors noted that larger confirmatory trials are required.

1:10:20supportedmoderatetheir own paperThe Science of Exercise for Cancer | Kerry Courneya, PhD

High-intensity interval training in men with prostate cancer undergoing active surveillance lowers prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels.

"In addition to improvements in fitness and function and the types of things you might expect, we also showed that this high-intensity exercise lowered prostate-specific antigen levels, PSA levels." (said at 1:10:20)

In the ERASE phase II randomized clinical trial of 52 men with localized prostate cancer undergoing active surveillance, 12 weeks of supervised high-intensity interval training (HIIT) significantly decreased prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels compared with usual care (between-group difference -1.1 μg/L, 95% CI -2.1 to 0.0, P = .04), as well as PSA velocity (-1.3 μg/L/y, P = .04) and prostate cancer cell line growth.

1:10:55supportedmoderatetheir own paperThe Science of Exercise for Cancer | Kerry Courneya, PhD

In vitro exposure of prostate cancer cells to serum from men who underwent high-intensity interval training suppresses prostate cancer cell growth compared to serum from non-exercising controls.

"And then we also looked at these prostate cancer cells in a petri dish, just an in vitro model where we exposed those prostate cancer cells to the serum of the men who exercised or the serum of the men who didn't exercise. And we showed that exposing them to the serum in the men who exercised reduced the growth of those prostate cancer cells" (said at 1:10:55)

In the ERASE phase 2 randomized controlled trial (PMID 34410322), 52 men with localized prostate cancer undergoing active surveillance were randomized to 12 weeks of supervised high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or usual care. In vitro bioassays evaluating serum effects demonstrated that exposure of the LNCaP prostate cancer cell line to post-intervention serum from the HIIT group significantly reduced cell growth compared with serum from the usual care group (-0.13 optical density units; 95% CI, -0.25 to -0.02; P = .02). Similar in vitro growth inhibition of prostate cancer cells following exposure to exercise-conditioned human serum has also been observed in other clinical cohorts (PMID 35152272).

1:21:15supportedmoderatetheir own paperThe Science of Exercise for Cancer | Kerry Courneya, PhD

Exercise interventions in prostate cancer active surveillance patients significantly reduce fear of cancer recurrence and fear of progression.

"So the impact we showed in this study of exercise helping them manage that fear of cancer progression or fear of cancer recurrence really important helping them get on with their daily lives to say, "I have to live my life with cancer in the background even though, um, you know, I have this psychological stress."" (said at 1:21:15)

A randomized controlled trial (the ERASE trial) evaluating 52 men with prostate cancer on active surveillance showed that a 12-week supervised high-intensity interval training (HIIT) intervention significantly improved prostate cancer-specific anxiety (adjusted mean difference -2.7, p=0.024) and the fear of progression subscale (p=0.013) compared to usual care.

1:38:20supportedmoderatetheir own paperThe Science of Exercise for Cancer | Kerry Courneya, PhD

A study in rectal cancer patients found that an exercise intervention exacerbated radiation-induced skin irritation and diarrhea.

"So in one of our studies in rectal cancer patients, it looks like the exercise intervention made skin irritation from radiation worse. Exercise making skin irritation worse, it looks like it made diarrhea worse in these patients." (said at 1:38:20)

A phase II randomized controlled trial (EXERT trial) by Morielli, Courneya, and colleagues evaluated exercise during and after neoadjuvant chemoradiation in rectal cancer patients (n = 36). The trial found that exercise exacerbated certain treatment-related side effects compared to usual care, including significant worsening of stool frequency during neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and worsening of diarrhea and embarrassment in the post-treatment period.

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