A university in the UK will be conducting a study on 50 men who have localized prostate cancer, that is cancer that has not spread beyond the gland.
Sheffield Hallam University will oversee the group of men. Half will carry out two-and-a-half hours of aerobic exercise every week for 12 months - initially with the support of a qualified trainer and then with free access to local gyms. The other half will be given information about the benefits of exercise but will have no access to trainers or gyms.
Prostate cancer that has not spread is sometimes treated with surgery or radiotherapy. Due to side effects some men opt for active surveillance instead, a kind of watchful waiting. All the men in the study are and will remain on active surveillance - and they will also be closely monitored as part of the study itself.
If all goes well, the study could lead to a full-scale trial of exercise along with active surveillance. The study in the UK is believed to be the first of its kind so cancer researchers will be watching closely to see how the participants do.
