Background This report assessed physical therapy interventions for cancer patients with radiation injury in muscle and skeleton.

Objective In order to clarify the objective we addressed this question: The effect of physical therapy on movement, pain, fatigue and function in cancer patients with injury in muscle and skeleton.

Methods We searched for relevant systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials in international databases, and appraised and synthesized studies which fulfilled our inclusion criteria.

Results We summarised results from one Cochrane review and five randomised controlled trials. The review had high methodological quality, but the quality of documentation varied according to GRADE. According to the review and the randomised trials physical training may increase physical performance in cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy.

Conclusion The systematic review and the randomised trials partly answered the current question. We identified studies regarding patients undergoing radiation therapy and did not identify any studies according radiation injury. Most of the studies investigated walking programs and we know little about other forms of physical therapy. More controlled trials are needed to answer the question addressed.