Effects of exercise during active surveillance for prostate cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The efficacy of exercise in men with prostate cancer (PCa) on active surveillance (AS) remains unclear. In this meta-analysis, we aimed to examine the effects of exercise in PCa patients on AS.

A literature search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library using search terms, including exercise, PCa, AS, and randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The means and standard deviations for peak oxygen consumption (VO_2peak), prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, and quality of life (QoL) were extracted for the intervention and control groups. A random-effects model was used to summarize the effects of exercise.

Of the 158 identified studies, six RCTs with 332 patients were included. The interventions included lifestyle modifications (aerobic exercise + diet) in three studies and different exercise modalities in three studies. The intervention duration was 2-12 months; three interventions were supervised and three were self-directed. The pooled weighted mean difference between exercise and usual care for VO_2peak was 1.42 mL/kg/min (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.30 to 2.54, P ≤ 0.001). A non-significant effect was observed for QoL (pooled standardized mean difference [SMD]: 0.24, 95% CI: - 0.03 to 0.51, P = 0.08) which became statistically significant and stronger after excluding one outlier study (P < 0.001). Exercise also had a positive effect on PSA levels (pooled SMD: - 0.43, 95% CI: - 0.87 to 0.01, P = 0.05).

Exercise improves cardiorespiratory fitness and may improve QoL and PSA levels in men with PCa on AS. Further studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to obtain more reliable results.