• Posted April 4, 2025

Lifestyle Changes Boost Longevity For Cancer Survivors

Cancer survivors can reduce their ongoing risk of death by sticking to diet and exercise guidelines recommended by the American Cancer Society, a new study suggests.

Non-smoking survivors of obesity-related cancers had an overall lower risk of death if they adopted the ACS lifestyle recommendations following their treatment, according to findings published April 3 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

They also had a lower risk of dying either from heart-related diseases or a subsequent bout with cancer, results show.

“A cancer diagnosis often motivates people to think about how they can live healthier lives,” lead investigator Ying Wang, senior principal scientist of epidemiology research at the American Cancer Society, said in a news release. “Many survivors want to know what lifestyle changes they can make to improve their chances of living longer.”

The ACS updated its nutrition and physical activity guidelines in 2022. The new recommendations emphasize maintaining healthy weight, exercising regularly, eating healthy and limiting alcohol intake.

To test the effectiveness of these recommendations, researchers analyzed the lifestyle habits of more than 3,700 participants in a long-term study of cancer risk that began in 1992.

The study focused on survivors of obesity-related cancers “due to the significant role of lifestyle factors in their development and prognosis,” researchers wrote. These included stomach, colon, liver, gallbladder, pancreatic, breast, uterine, kidney, thyroid, nervous system and blood cancers.

Researchers tracked the patients more than 15 years to see how they fared.

People whose lifestyles most closely stuck to the new ACS guidelines had a 24% lower risk of death from any cause, results show.

They also had a 33% lower risk of heart-related death and a 21% lower risk of cancer death.

In addition, researchers found that people with an optimal body mass index had a 10% overall lower risk of death, and a 27% lower risk of heart-related death. (Body mass index, or BMI, is an estimate of body fat based on height and weight.)

Likewise, people who got the recommended amount of exercise had a 22% overall lower risk of death and a 26% lower risk of heart-related death.

“These findings underscore how making the right lifestyle choices truly affects cancer survival,” Wang said.

The ACS guidelines recommend that cancer survivors: 

• Get 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 70-150 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise each week, or a combination of these.

• Limit sedentary behavior.

• Eat a lot of vegetables, fruits and whole grains.

• Limit or eliminate red and processed meats, sugary drinks, highly processed foods and refined grains.

• Limit or eliminate alcohol consumption.

• Maintain a healthy weight.

More information

The American Cancer Society has more information on its lifestyle recommendations for cancer survivors.

SOURCE: American Cancer Society, news release, April 3, 2025