Exercise oncology researcher named to Order of Canada

KSR Professor Kerry Courneya is appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.

A trailblazer in the field of exercise oncology and an inspiring teacher and researcher, Kerry Courneya has been named to the Order of Canada for creating a positive impact on thousands of cancer patients and changing the face of cancer care in Canada and the world.

“It’s really quite an honour,” says Courneya. “As a researcher, you hope to be recognized by your colleagues as making a contribution, but you do not expect to be recognized by your country.” To Courneya, the award signifies, “This research is important enough, it’s benefited enough people that we think it’s worth honouring; you don’t ever anticipate that. It’s very thrilling and exciting to receive the Order of Canada.”

Courneya is a professor with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation (KSR) and an adjunct professor with the Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. He is also the Canada Research Chair in Physical Activity and Cancer, director of the U of A Behavioural Medicine Laboratory, scientific staff member at the Cross Cancer Institute and member of the Cancer Research Institute of Northern Alberta.

Courneya says that an early impetus for getting into the field of exercise oncology was Don MacKenzie’s work at the University of British Columbia, suggesting that breast cancer patients who participated in dragon boat racing — a high-intensity upper body activity — actually improved lymphedema, shoulder function and overall quality of life. Courneya and MacKenzie went on to collaborate on further research, setting the stage for Courneya’s life work in this area.

When Courneya first started in this field, the typical medical advice for cancer patients undergoing difficult treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy was to rest; concerns were raised that exercise might even cause problems with their treatment. 

Thirty years later, Courneya and his research team have compiled overwhelming scientific evidence on the positive effects of exercise before, during and after cancer treatment. The results have been so compelling that the American Society for Clinical Oncology, the Canadian Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society have now adopted exercise guidelines for cancer patients and survivors. In fact, Courneya was the only non-American invited to be a co-author of the American Cancer Society’s updated physical activity and nutrition guidelines for cancer survivors.

“To see those guidelines come out has been a vindication of three decades of work because oncologists want to see high-quality evidence from randomized controlled trials; they’re not persuaded by anecdotal stories,” says Courneya. “The doctors that treat cancer patients have now endorsed recommending exercise to all patients as they go through treatments. Exercise has become one of the most critical components of cancer care, besides the medical treatments themselves.”

The Order of Canada is the latest in an impressive list of achievements over the span of Courneya’s career. 

In the past 34 years, Courneya’s work has appeared in 590 refereed journal publications and 36 invited book chapters, attracting more than 42,000 Scopus citations, more than 74,000 Google Scholar citations and 191 invited presentations — 70 in Canada, 64 in the U.S. and 57 internationally. 

Of his 33 awards, honours and distinctions, the most noteworthy have been the Manulife Prize for the Promotion of Active Health, the O. Harold Warwick Prize from the Canadian Cancer Society and the Award of Research Excellence from the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology.

Courneya’s work continues to evolve and make a difference in the lives of Canadians living with cancer. He is currently interested in the idea of exercise as a potential cancer treatment.

Most of the research to date has focused on supportive care benefits — helping patients through treatment, symptom management and quality of life. But now, Courneya says, “There’s more recent evidence suggesting exercise may actually help with the cancer treatments themselves, and help these treatments work more effectively.”

One of Courneya’s recent studies has shown that rectal cancer patients who exercised during radiation therapy experienced more tumour shrinkage than those who didn't exercise. Another recent study showed that exercise may slow the progression of cancer in men with prostate cancer on active surveillance where the cancer is monitored closely rather than giving treatment right away. Finally, an ongoing long-term study that started in 2012 is following 1,500 breast cancer patients and looking at the role of physical fitness and physical activity in predicting recurrence, survival and long-term recovery. 

Looking ahead, Courneya hopes more research will be targeted at different cancer groups, such as patients with brain, liver and pancreatic cancers. He also hopes there will be more practical applications of the research rolled out in cancer centres and community-based programs across the country — programs like the Alberta Cancer Exercise Study led by his former PhD student Margaret McNeely. 

“Now that we have the cancer doctors themselves saying cancer patients should be getting these exercise programs,” Courneya wonders, “how do we make sure that all cancer patients across Canada have access to high-quality exercise programs and are going to be able to get the benefits that we’ve seen with the research studies?”

Courneya joins Michael James, Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, as newly appointed Officers of the Order of Canada. Also from the U of A, Sarah Carter and Beverly Lemire were appointed Members of the Order of Canada. They are among the 85 new appointments announced today by the Governor General of Canada, Mary Simon. 

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