Study finds exercise lowers risk of 7 cancers

There is no dispute that exercise has numerous health benefits with one of them being possibly reducing the risk of cancer. A new observational study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, adds more credibility suggesting that the frequency and intensity you exercise, the lower your risk for 7 major cancers.

Research on the benefits of exercising

This research was conducted by bringing together data from nine published studies involving more than 750,000 people who were followed for 10 years, on average. Researchers for this study included those from the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, and Havard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Findings showed that individuals who participated in the recommended amount of physical activity for adults cut their odds for seven different cancers.  The current recommendation for healthy adults and physical activity is to engage in 2.5 to 5 hours a week of moderate-intensity activity such as brisk walking or water aerobics. Or up to 2.5 hours of vigorous activity which includes jogging, swimming laps, running, jumping rope, or hiking.

Participants involved with the study would report their leisure time activity to the researchers over the 10-year span of the study. During the decade when studied, researchers wanted to see if any of the participants developed 15 different types of cancer.

What did the research find?

Seven cancers of the 15 cancers studied, were reduced by participants who either met or exceeded exercise recommendations, which included the following: breast (6% for moderate exercise to 10% for vigorous), endometrial (10% for moderate exercise to 18% for vigorous), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (11% for women for moderate exercise to 18% for vigorous), colon, kidney (11% for moderate to 17% for vigorous), liver (18% for moderate to 27% for vigorous), and myeloma.

The study does point out that the findings do not prove that exercise lowers cancer risk, but rather shows a strong association between the two. Health professionals should still recommend and encourage individuals to make exercise a regular part of their lifestyle to help lower cancer risk. It is already understood that there are several other modifiable risks associated with the development of cancer besides exercise.

These modifiable risks include maintaining a healthy weight, making healthy food choices, and not smoking. The role of exercise appears to be important for insulin and hormone regulation and having an impact on improving inflammation and the body’s immune response that could affect different types of cancer.

How does exercise affect men with prostate cancer?

It has been already well-documented that exercise imparts dramatic health improvements in quality of life and health for patients with colon, breast, and even prostate cancer.  In 2016, a review looked into the evidence of exercise and how it affects men with prostate cancer specifically looking at obese men with the disease and how obesity may promote aggressiveness in prostate cancer. Another follow-up study of 2,705 men review looked at who had nonmetastatic prostate cancer with a survival rate of at least 4 years after diagnosis, were noted to be involved in vigorous exercise (cycling, swimming, jogging) for more than 3 hours weekly which led to lower rates of cancer mortality.  Another study found men with localized prostate cancer who walked briskly more than 3 hours weekly had a 57% reduction in prostate cancer mortality.

Even for individuals who have a cancer diagnosis, exercise may help improve many aspects of their life. It can reduce cardiovascular risk factors, improves symptoms of depression and sleep disturbance, reduces fatigue, and can also improve body image/self-esteem, sexuality, social functioning, anxiety, and pain.  In addition, exercise can maintain and even improve muscular strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, and lean body mass.

The message from this study is that all adults should strive to make healthy choices each day with physical activity a regular part of those choices. Not only does exercise protect against diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and reducing stress, but it may also possibly influence cancer risk.