[Rehabilitation for Motor Dysfunction in Patients with Cancer]

Advancements in cancer treatment have led to an increase in the 5-year survival rate to>50%for various cancers. However, cancer remains a serious disease that affects the patients' life. Cancer progression or invasive treatments may cause various disabilities in patients. For example, functional impairment is a typical problem leading to impaired activities of daily living and quality of life, extended hospital stay, and increased burden for the family. Optimal rehabilitation is needed to improve the motor function and activity of these patients. The number of reports that describe the effect of cancer rehabilitation has increased in recent years. On the basis of these reports, the Guideline Committee of the Japanese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine has published clinical guidelines for cancer rehabilitation in 2013. Providing a rehabilitation program, however, is sometimes problematic because the general condition of cancer patients is sometimes complicated by a fluctuating clinical course. To create a rehabilitation program for cancer patients, various factors should be taken into consideration, such as the severity of the dysfunction, life expectancy, and risk of complications. Among the potential complications, bone metastasis is the most serious problem. As the risk of skeletal-related events is increased by exercise or improvement in the activities of daily living, the merits and risks of rehabilitation need to be evaluated. To improve the quality of cancer rehabilitation, highly specialized education for physicians and therapists is needed.