The National Cancer Strategy for 2013-2017 published by The Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services, notes that physical activity is an important adjunctive treatment both during active cancer treatment and after the treatment is completed. We have summarised the results from five systematic reviews, on the effects of exercise for cancer patients during and after cancer treatment, including a total of 119 randomised clinical trials.

In summary, the reviews show:

• It is uncertain if exercise during active cancer treatment has an effect on quality of life, self reported physical function, anxiety, depression and fatigue.
• Exercise for cancer survivors might have a positive effect on quality of life, self reported physical function, anxiety and fatigue.
• Weight training does not seem to increase the severity of lymphedema in women who have received breast cancer surgery.

The results from this review should be interpreted with caution. The certainty of the evidence, based on the included systematic reviews, is low or very low mainly due to small studies with high risk of bias.

There is a need for research investigating if any specific type, intensity or duration of physical exercise gives better results than others.

The evidence is sparse for the effect of exercise during and after cancer treatment for the outcomes survival, recurrence of cancer and serious adverse events.