They demonstrate that high vs. low levels of physical activity engagement are associated with reduced risk of 13 cancer types (including 3 of the top 4 leading cancers among men and women worldwide).
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In an effort to get a more complete picture of how exercise and cancer interact, a team led by Steven Moore, a cancer epidemiologist at the National Cancer Institute, took on the ambitious task of pooling data from 1.
Newly released study links exercising to the reduction of 13 different types of cancer. About 186,000 cases of cancer were reported in the study participants that were a part of 12 different studies during that period. For that group of 13 cancers, the risk reduction ranged from 10% to 42%.
The study, conducted by researchers from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in NY, examined 128 patients with cervical cancer. Walking, running and swimming were among moderate and vigorous-intensity activities reported by participants and tallied by researchers.
The study found that the levels of hormones are reduced due the physical activity.
“These findings support promoting physical activity as a key component of population-wide cancer prevention and control efforts”, researchers said.
“This study linking physical activity has far reaching value for cancer prevention”, said co-author Alpa Patel, Ph.D. from the ACS. Their rates of gastric cardia and endometrial cancers were 22% and 21% lower, respectively, than were those of non-exercisers.
A large review has suggested that exercise could notably cut an individual’s risk for numerous types of cancer, which includes a few of the most deadly forms of the disease. What researchers ended up finding was that women who had cervical cancer had significantly increased odds of classifying themselves as “inactive” on the questionnaire compared to the ladies who didn’t have cervical cancer.
According to the U.S. Surgeon General’s guidelines, for “substantial health benefits”, adults should do at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity, with the exercise spread throughout the week rather than performed in one massive workout session.
The beneficial effects of physical activity were connected to cancers of the liver, kidney and bladder, as well as leukemia and myeloma. (They also had a 27 percent higher risk of malignant melanoma, but only in places with higher levels of UV, probably because exercising exposed them to cancer-causing sunlight.) The researchers found no association between exercising and 13 other cancers, including pancreatic, ovarian, and brain. Overall, the risk of getting any cancer was lowered by 7 percent.
Inflammation levels remained lower in those approaching and living in retirement who were physically active compared with those who did relatively little.
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However, the new study did not look at exactly how much exercise is needed, how intense the exercise should be or when in life people should start exercising to get these benefits, so those questions should be the focus of future research, the commentary said. Even adjusting for BMI, for example, was tricky, since exercise can affect BMI since it affects weight, and people who are heavier tend to be less active.
