Is there an association between cardiorespiratory fitness and colon, lung, and prostate cancer incidence and mortality?
Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide and cases are estimated to increase and reach 21.4 million by 2030. The main reasons for this increase are a combination of growing and aging populations and medical advances leading to more cancers being detected. Many risk factors contributing to the global cancer burden are modifiable.
Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is a more objective reflection of an individual’s current level of moderate- to-vigorous intensity. However, CRF is also substantially influenced (25% or more) by a person’s genetics. Regular physical activity has been associated with a lower risk of several cancer types, yet few studies have investigated the influence of CRF on cancer incidence or mortality. As increasing age is a strong risk factor for several cancer types, and CRF levels tend to decrease with age, the associations between CRF and cancer incidence and mortality risk may vary depending on when CRF is assessed. With the number of people who are estimated to receive a cancer diagnosis in the future, it is important that researchers investigate potentially preventable risk factors to develop targeted prevention strategies.
Researchers conducted a study of 177,709 Swedish men aged 18 to 75 years over a period of approximately 10 years. Higher cardiorespiratory fitness levels (CRF) were associated with a significantly lower risk of colon and lung cancer incidence, and a higher risk of prostate cancer incidence (possibly because prostate cancer increases dramatically with advancing age, and perhaps because fewer patients with high CRF died of cardiovascular disease before they could develop prostate cancer). However, a higher CRF was associated with a lower risk of death due to colon, lung, and prostate cancer. For prostate cancer mortality, associations remained for low, moderate, and high CRF.
Further research such as randomized clinical trials should examine CRF at different times in life and cancer incidence and mortality.
Jama Network Open: June 29, 2023. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.21102
