Cardiorespiratory fitness prevents risk and death due to colon, lung and prostate cancer in MEN

It is already known that CRF levels are an important risk factor for cancer incidence and death.

The main research question of this study was, “Is there an association between cardiorespiratory fitness and colon, lung, and prostate cancer incidence and mortality in Swedish men?”

This prospective cohort study had 177 709 men aged 18-75 with a BMI of 26 who were followed up for a mean of 9.6 years. Cardiorespiratory fitness in this study was assessed as maximal oxygen consumption, estimated using a submaximal cycle ergometer test.

The crucial study highlights are:

• There were 499 incident cases of colon, 283 of lung, and 1918 of prostate cancer.
• The number of deaths from colon, lung and prostate cancer was 152, 207 and 141, respectively.
• There was an association between higher levels of CRF and a lower risk of colon and lung cancer incidence.
• Higher CRF was tied to a lower risk of death due to colon, lung and prostate cancer.
• Age modified the associations for lung and prostate cancer incidence and death due to lung cancer.
• Moderate and high CRF lowered the risk of colon cancer.
• Low, moderate, and high CRF lowered the risk of death due to prostate cancer, while only high CRF was associated with a lower risk of death due to lung cancer.

Study strengths were the largest cohort study of CRF and its association with incidence and mortality in specific cancer types in men.

We found that “CRF appears to have a potentially important role in reducing the risk of developing and dying from certain common cancers in men”, they wrote.

Further reading:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2806585