Cardiorespiratory Fitness Tied to Reduced Cancer Incidence, Mortality in Men

MONDAY, July 3, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) are associated with a reduced risk for incidence and mortality from specific cancers among men, according to a study published online June 29 in JAMA Network Open.

Elin Ekblom-Bak, Ph.D., from The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in Stockholm, and colleagues conducted a prospective cohort study in a population of men who completed a health profile assessment between October 1982 and December 2019 in Sweden to examine the association between CRF and prostate, colon, and lung cancer incidence and mortality. Data were analyzed for 177,709 men.

The researchers found that higher levels of CRF were associated with a significantly lower risk for colon and lung cancer incidence (hazard ratio, 0.98 for both) and with an increased risk for prostate cancer incidence (hazard ratio, 1.01). A lower risk for death due to colon, lung, and prostate cancer was seen in association with higher CRF (hazard ratios, 0.98, 0.97, and 0.95, respectively). For colon cancer incidence, the associations remained for moderate and high levels compared with very low levels of CRF (hazard ratios, 0.72 and 0.63, respectively) in fully adjusted models. For prostate cancer mortality, the associations remained for low, moderate, and high CRF (hazard ratios, 0.67, 0.57, and 0.29, respectively). Only high CRF was significant for lung cancer mortality (hazard ratio, 0.41).

"If these findings can be supported with randomized clinical trials, CRF appears to have a potentially important role in reducing the risk of developing and dying from certain common cancers in men," the authors write.

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