There’s barely a person on the planet whose life has not been touched by cancer, including one of the world’s leading lights in the battle against this most dreaded of diseases.
Rob Newton’s father Usher was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1993. After surgery and radiation, Usher was left a shell of his former World War II pilot self, barely able to move because of muscle weakness and fatigue.
Professor Rob Newton working with his patient Michael Pittaway in the gym in the School of Medical and Health Sciences on the Joondalup campus of Edith Cowan University.Credit: Mark Naglazas
When Usher complained to his doctor about this fatigue he was told that he’d just had cancer and needed to rest. So he spent every day sitting in the sun in front of his house not moving.
But Usher just got weaker and weaker and grew more fatigued.
“As an exercise scientist I thought this was wrong. It went against everything I’d learned about what was best for the body. I tried to encourage him to do some weights or play a round of golf, but he refused. ‘The doctor told me to rest’, he said,” Newton recalled.
“Two years later he died of a stroke. If dad hadn’t had the surgery and the radiation he would likely have lived another two years and certainly enjoyed a better quality of life. What killed him was the rapid onset of vascular disease and the rest strategy recommendation.
“I believe that if I’d been able to get dad exercising he would have lived longer and had a better quality of life.”
Newton was so shocked by what had happened to his father he made a radical change to his blossoming career as a sports scientist, trading glam gigs with the likes of Manchester United, the Chicago Bulls and the Wallabies to take up a professorship with Edith Cowan University in 2003 and setting about helping cancer patients survive the treatment meant to save them.
His big idea was to apply what he’d learned elevating the performances of professional athletes such as Luc Longley and Scottie Pippin at the Bulls to those who were fighting for their lives.
“Sports science has generated a huge body of knowledge,” Newton said.
“Even the ancient Greeks and Romans developed methodologies of training soldiers. This research into making a better fighting human continued in World War I and II. Then there was a huge surge in preparing astronauts and most recently professional athletes, such as Formula 1.
Professor Rob Newton is using his experience with elite sporting teams like the Chicago Bulls to drill people with cancer build muscle and improve cardiovascular health and resilience.Credit: Reuters
“I figured the vast amount of research that has gone into building better soldiers and athletes could be applied to those people undergoing cancer treatments which, while life-saving, can have a devastating impact on the body.”
Newton found partners in his goal of using exercise to help those undergoing chemotherapy, radiation and other treatments in world renowned Perth-based oncologists Nigel Spry and David Joseph, who were also concerned about the struggles of their patients.
It was through Spry and Joseph that Newton recruited his first subjects, initially focusing on men dealing with prostate cancer because of the experience of watching his father endure what he believed was incorrect advice.
“Prostate cancer, which is the most common form of cancer among men, is usually treated with testosterone suppression. It’s fantastic for fighting cancer – it will stop it in its tracks – but has enormous side effects, such as a loss of bone density, a decline in muscle mass and fat gain,” he said.
“All of these detrimental health challenges are very responsive to exercise. So our team at ECU’s Exercise Medicine Research Institute set about trialling resistance and cardio training, evolving specific programs to suit each patient in the same way as I did for athletes such as Luc at the Bulls.”
Two decades later, the gym within ECU’s School of Medical and Health Sciences is a hive of activity, with dozens of mostly older folk undergoing various stages of cancer treatment happily taking instructions from the team of accredited exercise physiologists.
Instead of returning home to rest, as is still typical for cancer patients, those who have found their way to Newton via oncologists hit the treadmills, strap themselves into weight machines and engage in an array of physical exercises to both counter the impact of the treatment and to keep their bodies resilient for the long road ahead.
The results are impressive.
Cancer treatment is a long, lonely battle so the camaraderie experienced in the gym is as important as the exercise.
“We now have a growing number of research studies showing that if people maintain or take up certain level and type of exercise, which is relatively modest, they may more than double their chances of surviving their cancer. In other words, they halve the risk of dying,” argues Newton.
But exercise-driven health of cancer patients is not the only benefit of exercise. There is now exciting research showing that exercise has an even more direct impact on combating cancer, such as slowing the growth of tumours and enhancing the effectiveness of chemo and radiation therapy.
Among the group benefiting from Newton’s conviction is 79-year-old retired business manager Michael Pittaway.
When Pittaway was diagnosed with prostate cancer in April last year, the shock was that much more intense because he’d already lived through his wife’s breast cancer and his son’s brain tumour experiences.
What they endured made Pittaway determined not be beaten down by radiation therapy and give himself a better chance on the other side.
“I was determined to beat it,” Pittaway said.
“I’d watched my wife and son struggle through their treatments, so I wanted to do everything in my power to alleviate the discomfort and improve my outcome. So I threw myself into my exercise program.
“And it worked. My treatment turned out not to be as bad as I thought it would be.”
What also helped was the bond forged with other men in the program.
“It is hard to go through this on your own so the friends you make in the gym are important,” Pittaway said.
“My determination and the exercise got me through the treatment. I’m now addicted to it and continue to exercise even though I am in remission.”
While Newton is thrilled with the progress he and his colleagues have made in helping patients through treatment, he is disappointed that exercise medicine hasn’t been more widely embraced health and medical professionals and their patients, in particular support within our Australian health system is negligible.
“Anyone who has a heart attack is the next day put on some kind of rehab program,” Newton said.
“Cancer treatment is not like that.
“A lot of groups are working to get exercise embedded within cancer care. It’s not at the moment. We need to change the narrative and patients should demand exercise medicine for their cancer.”
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