Physical Fitness May Help Fend Off Various Cancers

A new analysis led by the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society finds that maintaining a physically fit lifestyle may help prevent a variety of cancers.

In evaluating data from 12 studies including 1.44 million individuals between the ages of 19 and 98, researchers followed these participants for roughly 11 years, during which time 187,000 of the participants developed cancer. Throughout that span, the authors determined that those who were most physically active in their leisure time had a lower risk of developing 13 of 26 types of cancer, in comparison with those who were the least active. The investigators defined leisure-time physical activity as exercise that people take part in at their own discretion, often to improve and maintain their health and fitness.
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Overall, the authors found that the risk of developing 7 types of cancer was at least 20% lower among the 10% most active participants, compared with the 10% least active, and confirmed the connection already known to exist between greater levels of exercise and lowered risk of colon, breast, and endometrial cancers. The researchers saw risk decrease most substantially with respect to esophageal adenocarcinoma, liver cancer, cancer of the gastric cardia, kidney cancer, and myeloid leukemia. In addition, the study discovered smaller but still noteworthy reductions in myeloma as well as cancers of the head and neck, rectum, and bladder.

The results “confirm and extend the evidence for a benefit of physical activity on cancer risk, and support its role as a key component of population-wide cancer prevention and control efforts,” said Steven Moore, PhD, MPH, an investigator at the National Cancer Institute, and lead author of the study.

“Furthermore, our results support that these associations are broadly generalizable to different populations, including people who are overweight or obese, or those with a history of smoking. Healthcare professionals counseling inactive adults should promote physical activity as a part of a healthy lifestyle and cancer prevention.”

—Mark McGraw

Reference

Moore S, Min-Lee I, Weiderpass E, et al. Association of leisure-time physical activity with risk of 26 types of cancer in 1.44 million adults [published online May 16, 2016]. JAMA Intern Med. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.1548.