Diet And Exercise Targeting Obesity Improve Treatment in Pediatric Cancer

Diet and exercise interventions may improve treatment outcomes and reduce disease recurrence in obese pediatric cancer patients.

Highlights

Diet and exercise have strong potential to improve chemotherapy effectiveness in pediatric cancer patients.
Energy balance, a combination of diet and exercise can be implemented effectively during treatment to manage or treat obesity.
Obesity reduction as a goal for energy balance interventions proves effective in cancer treatment for children.

Special diet interventions and physical activity may improve treatment outcomes in pediatric cancer patients, according to a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital.

The findings, published in Pediatrics Research, also revealed that diet and exercise have strong potential to improve chemotherapy effectiveness and reduces the risk of late effects in pediatric cancer patients.

Childhood Cancer - Types, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Complication & Prevention
Childhood or pediatric cancers occur in children less than 15 years of age. They are rare and differ from adult tumors in their location and behaviour.

‘Modifying diet or adding moderate exercise can improve chemotherapy efficacy independent of weight loss in children treated for cancer.’

There is a need for more work to determine how energy balance -- a combination of diet and exercise -- can be implemented effectively during treatment to manage or treat obesity.

Diet and Exercise Can Influence Cancer Treatment

The study was a review done by collecting data from 67 studies including 32 novel clinical trials in pediatric patients, and data from a variety of cohorts with pediatric patients diagnosed with different cancers, including patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), rhabdomyosarcoma and brain tumors. The cellular mechanisms by which energy balance impacts tumor growth was also highlighted.

Childhood Obesity - Criteria - Causes - Complications, Treatment
Childhood obesity is one of the most serious health challenges in the developing countries and needs to be understood and tackled effectively.

Research has been limited on the relationship between diet and exercise and its positive effects on treatment outcomes in obese cancer patients.

While healthy eating is encouraged during and after treatment, special diet interventions as part of treatment for pediatric patients are uncommon. Additionally, when it comes to physical activity, clinicians are cautious about administering an exercise regimen in a cancer care setting.

Obesity - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Complications, Treatment
Obesity is a condition where there is excess accumulation of body fat which poses a risk to the health of the individual. It can affect children and adults.

"The purpose of the review was to delineate between obesity reduction as a goal for energy balance interventions versus simply changing diet or adding exercise," said Joya Chandra, Ph.D., associate professor of Pediatric Research and lead author on the study. "For example, our review confirmed modifying diet or adding moderate exercise can improve chemotherapy efficacy independent of weight loss."

Dealing With Obesity

Mantra to Prevent Childhood Obesity � Vigorous Physical Activity
Being physically very active is the mantra to prevent pediatric obesity rather than concentrating efforts at restricting energy consumption.

Obesity, an epidemic and risk factor for several cancers, is on the rise in pediatric cancer patients, globally. According to Chandra, who is also the co-director of MD Anderson’s Center for Energy Balance in Cancer Prevention and Survivorship, obese pediatric patients diagnosed with leukemia and bone cancers have a lower prognosis for survival.

Obese patients have a higher rate of relapse and do not respond to treatment as well as other pediatric patients. The analysis also shows genetic predisposition to obesity will require a more targeted pathway for treatment.

Although research confirms a poor diet and sedentary lifestyle lead to obesity, additional research is needed to understand how diet and exercise affect tumors in different cancers. For example, physical activity is known to control BMI and obesity, and to improve quality of life, but choosing the right exercise protocol can be challenging.

Exercise and Diet During Cancer Treatment

Keri Schadler, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pediatric Research at MD Anderson, and co-author on the paper says there are many factors to consider when tailoring an exercise regimen including the type of tumor, patient health status, and frequency and duration of the exercise.

"Exercise during treatment is safe and improves physical fitness in patients," said Schadler. "We have several clinical trials underway including one testing exercise interventions in bone tumor patients."

The research team also is administering nutrition interventions and looking at weight trajectory in ALL patients. Ongoing studies evaluating diet and exercise interventions and their impact on chemotherapy efficacy, and long-term toxicity risk for leukemia, Ewing’s sarcoma, and osteosarcoma are also underway.

"The results from our study gives credibility to the need for energy balance interventions in clinical settings to improve treatment outcomes for pediatric patients," said Eugenie Kleinerman, M.D., professor of Pediatrics, and the study’s co-author.

Reference

Joya Chandra et al., Diet and exercise interventions for pediatric cancer patients during therapy: Tipping the scales for better outcomes, Pediatric Research (2017) doi:10.1038/pr.2017.225.

Source-Medindia