RESEARCH ARTICLE Physical and psychosocial

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground Cancer represents a major public health concern. In Western countries, approximately one in three persons will be directly affected by cancer before the age of 75 years, with breast cancer, melanoma, colorectal can-cer and prostate cancer comprising the most common types [1,2]. Due to medical advances, survival rates have improved over the past decade. For example, currently, the 5-year survival rates across all cancers are app-roximately 56 % for male and 62 % for female patients in Australia [1] and 58 % and 64%, respectively, in the Netherlands [2]. However, cancer and its treatment are often associated with prolonged adverse physical and psy-chosocial symptoms, including reduced physical function and fitness and increased risk of anxiety, depression, and fatigue [3,4]. This greatly impacts the patient’s quality of life (QoL) [5,6]. Therefore, there is a need for effective methods to manage physical and psychosocial symptom