Risk for 13 Cancers Is Lower When Leisure-Time Physical Activity Is Higher

Risks for colon, breast, and endometrial cancers are reduced with increased physical activity. In this analysis, researchers pooled the results of 12 prospective cohort studies that involved 1.44 million participants (median age, 59) to assess associations between self-reported leisure-time physical activity and 26 cancers.

During a median 11 years of follow-up, about 187,000 incident cancers were identified. In analyses adjusted for a wide range of clinical and demographic factors including smoking and alcohol consumption, participants in the 90th percentile for moderate and vigorous physical activity, compared with those in the 10th percentile, had a significant relative reduction in risk for 13 cancers (e.g., 42% lower risk for esophageal…