Among older cancer survivors in the linked Cancer Prevention Study II–Medicare dataset, higher moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity was associated with lower health care costs, which suggests potential economic benefits of MVPA alongside its known health benefits.
Among survivors diagnosed with in situ cancer, those who were inactive before diagnosis had higher health care costs in the year after diagnosis than those who met MVPA guidelines.
Among survivors with local-stage disease, the most active survivors had the lowest costs, though the difference from those with no MVPA was not statistically significant.
Across all cancer stages, survivors with low MVPA both before and after diagnosis had consistently higher costs than survivors with low MVPA before diagnosis but high MVPA after diagnosis.
The study used a large cohort of older cancer survivors drawn from linked cohort and Medicare claims data.
The authors conclude that the findings provide evidence of potential economic benefits of MVPA in cancer survivors, complementing known health benefits.
This study looked at more than 12,000 older adults (average age 76) who had a history of cancer, using survey data on their exercise habits linked to Medicare billing records. The researchers asked whether people who did more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, such as brisk walking, before and after their diagnosis had lower health care costs. The results suggested that being more active was linked to lower costs, though the pattern varied by cancer stage. People with in situ (very early) cancer who were inactive before diagnosis had higher first-year costs than those who met activity guidelines. For local-stage cancer, the most active people had somewhat lower costs, but this difference could have been due to chance. Across all stages, people who stayed inactive before and after diagnosis had higher annual costs than those who were inactive beforehand but became more active afterward, by roughly $2,000 to $7,600 per year depending on stage. This was an observational study, so it cannot prove that exercise itself lowered costs; other differences between more and less active people may play a role. Still, this research suggests that physical activity may bring economic benefits as well as the health benefits already described in cancer survivorship guidelines.
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Upload Your LabsRees-Punia E, Newton C, Patel A, Nielsen K, Chiang K, Bates-Fraser L, et al.. (2026). Patterns of physical activity and health care costs in older individuals with a history of cancer.. Cancer. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.70570