Oct. 6, 2025
Exercise as Part of Cancer Treatment
Physical activity could help prevent cancer treatment side effects, according to a Pitt expert.
TOPICS: Cancer & Immunotherapy | School of Medicine
Designs on Aging-Ready
By Strategic Communications
There’s a surprising new cancer treatment that could join the ranks of radiation and chemotherapy: exercise.
Kathryn Schmitz, professor of medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and deputy director of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, is a leader in this field. Her groundbreaking body of work shows that exercise can help prevent some side effects from breast cancer treatment. Her goal is to make exercise part of the standard protocol for cancer. She’s leading three large related clinical trials: One is looking at whether physical activity helps advanced cancer patients, and another is testing whether exercise might help older breast cancer patients handle treatments better. Yet another aims specifically to increase physical activity in rural primary care patients for the purpose of cancer prevention.