Improving fitness linked to 35% lower risk of prostate cancer: study

A new study suggests that getting into better shape over several years could reduce the risk of prostate cancer in men, relative to those whose fitness levels declined.

Plenty of research has linked regular exercise to a lower risk of cancer, but a new study suggests that getting into better shape could reduce the risk of prostate cancer in particular, a diagnosis that around 113 out of every 100,000 men get every year in the U.S.

The research, published Tuesday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, showed that men whose cardiorespiratory fitness improved by 3% or more annually over five years, on average, were 35% less likely to develop prostate cancer than men whose cardiorespiratory fitness declined by 3% annually. That was true regardless of men’s fitness levels when they started out.

It's evidence, in other words, that "no matter what age, no matter where you are in your life or your relative fitness, that if you improve your fitness, even by a relatively small amount, you may significantly decrease your risk of developing prostate cancer,” said Dr. William Oh, the chief medical officer of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, who wasn’t involved in the research.

Cardiorespiratory fitness is a measure of how well the heart and lungs deliver oxygen to the muscles during exercise.

For the study, researchers from the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences analyzed data from more than 57,000 men in Sweden who were enrolled in a health database as early as 1982. The men took at least two fitness tests, which involved pedaling on a stationary bike and estimating the volume of oxygen they used during vigorous exercise based on their heart rate. A higher volume indicated a greater fitness level.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/improving-fitness-lower-risk-prostate-cancer-study-rcna136215

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