Study finds certain cancers can be prevented through exercise

A new study suggests that regular exercise may reduce the risk of certain cancers, such as those of the head, neck and lungs. Researchers also found that people who were diagnosed with cancer but exercised still lived longer than those who were inactive.

Countless studies have found that exercise can reduce the risk of many health problems, including cancer. But much of the study comes with caveats, making it difficult to determine the exact benefits of exercise on cancer, said study author Lee Jones, an exercise scientist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. So Jones and his team tried to find ways to address these shortcomings.They ultimately decided to look at data from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Study, a large randomized trial The program proactively tracks the health of more than 60,000 people aged 55 to 74 with no history of cancer.

“We were fortunate to find a very robust data set that addressed some of the previous limitations – allowing us to conduct robust analyzes of whether exercise reduces the risk of cancer in general, but also of certain cancer types, and of long-term survival. Analysis,” Jones said.

At the beginning of the study, volunteers were asked a variety of health-related questions, including whether they exercised regularly. The researchers then followed the participants for more than a decade, tallying the number of diagnosed cancer cases and overall deaths.

Jones and his team found that people who were physically active had a slightly lower risk of cancer overall than those who were inactive. However, lower risks are associated with higher risks, particularly for head and neck, breast, and lung cancers. While the team found no link between exercise and a reduced risk of other types of cancer, such as colorectal and ovarian cancer, they found that exercise may increase the risk of two cancers, melanoma and prostate cancer. They also noted a dose-response effect, meaning more exercise seemed to have a more potent effect on cancer risk in either direction.

survey results, publish The studies published Thursday in the journal Cancer Cell were based on observational data, which means they cannot prove a cause-and-effect relationship between exercise and cancer. But they do present a more nuanced picture of how exercise affects our chances of getting cancer, even if exercise is still a net benefit, according to Jones. He noted that the same data showed that at the end of the study period, people who were physically active but later developed cancer were still less likely to die from any cause than those who were inactive.

“Our findings support current recommendations that regular exercise is important for reducing the risk of some forms of cancer, but may not reduce the risk of all forms of cancer,” he said. “Nonetheless, the longevity benefits suggest that even regular exercise It doesn’t reduce the risk of all cancers, it’s still associated with a survival benefit.”

Jones and his team Study regularly How exercise affects cancer risk and survival. So their work here should provide them and other scientists with new clues about how and why exercise is beneficial in the fight against certain cancers. The team has conducted studies in animals and humans to study how exercise changes the cell biology of certain organs, such as the breast and colon. They eventually hope to conduct clinical trials to directly test whether following a specific exercise regimen can reduce cancer risk.

For now, though, there’s plenty of motivation to develop or maintain an exercise habit, including as a way to prevent cancer. “Overall, we believe our findings strengthen the recommendations and recognition of exercise as an important aspect of cancer prevention,” Jones said.