Participating in a certain amount of physical activity can lower the risk of seven types of cancer, according to an analysis of data from more than 750,000 adults in the U.S., Europe and Australia. Recommended levels of leisure-time physical activity are associated with a range of potential benefits, from a 6-10% lower risk of breast cancer to an 18-27% lower risk of liver cancer.

An international team of researchers pooled data from nine prospective cohorts with self-reported leisure-time Engaging in recommended levels of physical activity can reduce risk for certain types of cancer. Source: stevepb/Pixabayphysical activity and follow-up for cancer incidence, focusing on the relationship between physical activity with incidence of 15 types of cancer. The effect of recommended amounts of physical activity, defined as 2.5-5 hours/week of moderate-intensity activity or 7.5-15 metabolic equivalent task (MET) hours/week, on cancer risk was assessed.

These activity levels were associated with a statistically significant lower risk of seven of the 15 cancer types studied, with the reduction increasing with more MET hours. Physical activity was linked with a lower risk of colon cancer in men (8% for 7.5 MET hours/week; 14% for 15 MET hours/week), 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). The dose response was linear in shape for half of the associations and nonlinear for the others.

The study conducted by researchers from George Washington University, Sweden's Karolinska Institute and Uppsala University, the American Cancer Society, Australia's University of Melbourne, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute and Monash University, the National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Aging, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (N.Y.) and Harvard Medical School is published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.