2023-09-08 10:00:01
Ten thousand steps and more. Reduction in fatigue, reduction in adverse effects of treatments, improvement in morale and quality of life… Physical activity (PA) has multiple benefits in cancers, with even a reduction in the risk of mortality and recurrence in certain cases. locations: breast, colon-rectum, prostate. Enough to make it recognized as a therapy in its own right, although still underused.
Over the course of studies, benefits are also shown in prevention, in the case of different tumors: breast, colon-rectum, endometrium, liver… But, overall, while almost half of cancers are considered preventable, through changes in behavior and lifestyle, the share of lack of PA in their occurrence was until now considered quite modest: 0.9%, according to data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the National Cancer Institute. Or ninth place in the list of risk factors, far behind tobacco (involved in 19.8% of tumors), alcohol (8%), diet and excess weight (5.4% each)…
A large Swedish study, published on August 15 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, suggests that the effects of physical activity in primary cancer prevention might be much stronger. By cross-referencing data from national registers – systems for continuous collection of information on the population highly developed in Scandinavian countries – Aron Onerup (University of Gothenburg) and his colleagues studied the occurrence of eighteen types of cancers in more than 1 million men, with a average follow-up of thirty-three years, from the start of their military service. The researchers did not rely on declarations of physical and sporting practices, but on objective data. In particular, they had access to measurements of the cardio-respiratory capacity (in English cardiorespiratory fitnessor CRF) conscripts, aged 16 to 25 at the time of their incorporation, allowing them to be classified into three categories: low, moderate or high. CRF corresponds to the maximum oxygen consumption, observed during intense exercise, which can be maintained for four to six minutes.
Caution in interpretation
During the follow-up period, 84,117 of these men developed a malignant tumor with, for half of the locations, a risk inversely proportional to CRF. The reduction in relative risk reached 40% in liver cancers, 39% in those of the esophagus. Other tumors affected: stomach (− 21%), pancreas (− 12%), colon (− 18%), rectum (− 5%), head and neck (− 19%), kidney (− 20%), lung ( − 42%). As this is an observational study, the Swedish researchers remain cautious, especially since they did not have exhaustive data on risk factors such as tobacco or alcohol consumption, diet, in this population. . It is therefore possible that there are confounding factors, particularly for the lung, which is closely linked to smoking.
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