癌症物理治療

Physical Therapy in Oncology

台灣與全球同步，罹患癌症的人數呈現逐年上升的趨勢。同時，因為早期診斷及治療技術的進步，癌症患者的存活率也因而顯著提升。許多癌症患者會因癌症本身或治療造成的相關後遺症而產生身體活動功能受限，因此，物理治療在癌症團隊照護中的角色近年逐漸受到重視。物理治療介入的主要目的是改善癌症患者的身體功能異常、增進並促進執行日常生活的能力和角色。本文將針對目前物理治療介入角色較多的癌症種類，在癌症不同時期包括診斷前的預檢及篩檢期、診斷後的治療期、療癒期、甚至生命末期，可以提供哪些介入方式以改善患者不適症狀並使身體功能及生活品質能達到最佳狀態進行介紹。希望藉由本文可以分享物理治療在癌症照護上的經驗，及增加其他醫療專業人員對物理治療在癌症照護上角色之認識。未來也希望能有更多的相關臨床研究可以提供物理治療介入對癌症患者的療效實證。

Similar to the global trends, the incidence of cancer in Taiwan continues to increase in recent years. Due to the improvements in early diagnosis and treatment, the survival rates of cancer sufferers have also significantly increased. Many survivors of cancer experience compromised physical function caused by either the disease itself or the adverse effects of its treatments. Thus, there has been growing emphasis on the role of physical therapy in multidisciplinary oncology care. The goals for physical therapy interventions are to decrease the impairments of physical function found in these patients, and to optimize their ability to carry out daily activities and to participate in life situations. This article describes the types of physical therapy interventions according to the cancer-related time periods (e.g., screening, treatment, survivorship, etc.) in various cancer types that physical therapy has more experience with. The purpose of this article was to share experience and to increase awareness of the role of physical therapy in cancer care among public and among medical professionals. More solid scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of physical therapy intervention in cancer care warrants further studies.