In a new study, researchers found that recommended amounts of leisure-time physical activity were linked to a lower risk for seven cancers, with several cancer types having a ‘dose/response’ relationship.
The finding is from an analysis of nine prospective studies involving more than 750,000 adults.
The research was conducted by a team at the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
While it’s long been known that physical activity is associated with a lower risk of several cancers, less clear has been the shape of the relationship and whether recommended amounts of physical activity are associated with lower risk.
Updated guidelines for activity now state that people should aim for 2.5 to 5 hours/week of moderate-intensity activity or 1.25 to 2.5 hours/week of vigorous activity.
Moderate-intensity activities are those that get you moving fast enough or strenuously enough to burn off three to six times as much energy per minute as sitting quietly (3 to 6 METs).
Vigorous-intensity activities burn more than 6 METs.
In the current analysis, the team used data from nine studies with self-reported leisure-time physical activity and follow-up for cancer incidence.
They looked at the link between physical activity with incidence of 15 types of cancer.
They found engaging in recommended amounts of activity was linked to a much lower risk of seven of the 15 cancer types.
Physical activity was linked to a lower risk of colon cancer in men (8%-14%), female breast cancer (6%-10%), endometrial cancer (10%-18%), kidney cancer (11%-17%), myeloma (14%-19%), liver cancer (18%-27%), and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (11%-18% in women).
These findings provide direct quantitative support for the levels of activity recommended for cancer prevention and provide actionable evidence for ongoing and future cancer prevention efforts.
One author of the study is Alpa Patel, Ph.D., the senior scientific director of epidemiology research at the American Cancer Society.
The study is published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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