CO.21 CHALLENGE trial continues to make waves in the future of cancer care Wednesday, October 21, 2026 A recent NY Times piece makes the case for exercise to be included as standard care for cancer patients based on both the original CO.21 CHALLENGE clinical trial results and the follow up economic analysis.Excerpt from the article by Nina Agrawal... Last year, a landmark randomized controlled trial showed that colon cancer patients who participated in a structured exercise program with a trainer-coach over three years were less likely to see their cancers come back and had a better quality of life. Among those in the program, 90 percent were alive after 8 years, compared with 83 percent in the control group.A later study showed also showed that the program, which altogether costs $3,000 per person, also saved the health system money. ....That combination of benefits is rare among cancer therapies: The new pancreatic cancer drug daraxonrasib, for example, costs $480,000 annually, has unpleasant side effects and, while it prolongs life by several months, does not increase long-term overall survival. "If we had a drug with this magnitude of benefit it would immediately become standard of care and funded" by insurance companies, said Dr Chris Booth.To read the full article >
