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 There are many benefits to being physically active, but the new
results suggest there are “specific effects also on the survival
among prostate cancer patients,” said the study's lead author
Stephanie Bonn of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
“There is great potential for men diagnosed with prostate cancer to
improve their own survival by being physically active,” she wrote in
an email to Reuters Health.
In the U.S. alone, about 210,000 men are diagnosed with prostate
cancer every year and about 28,000 die of it, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Previous studies have found links between physical activity and
survival in cancer patients, but few looked at prostate cancer, Bonn
and her colleagues write in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and
Prevention.
For the new study, they analyzed data on 4,623 men from Sweden
diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer between 1997 and 2002.
The information included details on the men's physical activity
levels and general health until 2012.
Overall, the men who walked or biked daily for at least 20 minutes
after their diagnosis had a 39 percent decreased risk of dying from
prostate cancer and a 30 percent decreased risk of dying from any
cause, compared to those who were less active.
For example, each year, among every 1,000 men who walked or biked at
least 20 minutes a day, there were about 23 deaths from any cause,
compared to about 38 deaths among every 1,000 men who exercised
less.
Additionally, for every 1,000 men who exercised for an hour or more
per week, there were about 21 deaths from any cause per year,
compared to about 34 deaths among every 1,000 of those who exercised
less.
The results were consistent regardless of the type of treatment the
men received for their prostate cancer, Bonn said.
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“However, our results apply to men diagnosed with localized prostate
cancer and only those men who were still alive a number of years
after their diagnosis were included in the study,” she said, adding
that it most likely excludes men with more aggressive prostate
cancers.
The new study can’t prove that more exercise extended the men's
lives, but Bonn said it would be interesting to conduct a trial to
measure the long-term and short-term effects of physical activity on
prostate cancer.
The researchers say the association between exercise and prostate
cancer could be related to hormones, fat tissue or inflammation.
They plan to further investigate the exact mechanisms.
“At the moment we are working with a large study where men have
donated both biological samples, and responded to a lifestyle
questionnaire where physical activity was assessed in detail,” Bonn
said. “We will study how different types of physical activity and
also body weight may impact both the risk of prostate cancer as well
as survival.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1x4ch6I Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and
Prevention, online December 19, 2014.
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