Breast cancer survivors can halve risk of early death with 20 minutes exercise a day

Breast cancer survivors can halve risk of early death with just 20 minutes of exercise a day, research suggests.

The study of more than 2,000 women treated for the disease found that those who boosted their activity levels after previously living sedentary lives were able to cut their risk significantly.

Those achieving 150 minutes moderate exercise weekly saw their mortality rate fall by 50 per cent in the subsequent 12 years, compared with those who remained inactive.

Such activities could include brisk walking, cycling or jogging.

If women were already active before their diagnosis, keeping their activity levels up also cut their risk, by around 30 per cent, compared with those who became inactive.

The study, published in Breast Cancer Research, follows calls for newly diagnosed cancer patients to be given exercise plans to boost their survival chances.

Charities have said that a diagnosis could provide a “teachable moment” for patients to change their diet, and quit unhealthy habits, such as smoking or excess drinking.

The study by the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg investigated tracked women aged between 50 and 74 for 12 years, which scientists said is the longest follow-up of any such research.

The study was restricted to women who had already survived approximately six years from point of diagnosis.

Researcher Audrey Jung said: "The results of our study suggest that there are merits to leisure-time physical activity in breast cancer patients, and that its associated benefits are not only limited to women who are physically active before and after diagnosis. Instead, the benefits appear to extend to women who did not adhere to the recommended levels of physical activity before diagnosis but who did so after diagnosis."