A new study suggests that vigorous physical activity will offer protection against prostate cancer progression. We know that men who exercise vigorously have a reduced risk for all-cause mortality and prostate-cancer-specific mortality.
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health showed that vigorous exercise can reduce the progression of prostate cancer and reduce the risk of prostate-cancer-specific mortality.
Men who reported that they undertook vigorous physical activity for 3 hours per week or more were found to have a 49% lower risk for all-cause mortality and a 61% lower risk for prostate-cancer-specific mortality than those who exercised for less than 1 hour per week.
The vigorous physical exercise consisted of jogging, cycling, tennis, or swimming. Men who reported this type of exercise for more than 3 hours per week before and after their diagnosis of prostate cancer had the lowest risk for all-cause and prostate-cancer-specific mortality. In addition, men who reported walking at a normal to very brisk pace for more than 90 minutes per week — compared with those who walked at an easy pace — had a significantly reduced risk for all-cause mortality and a suggestion of a reduced risk for prostate-cancer-specific mortality. It found that men who reported a brisk walking pace (>3 mph), compared with an easy walking pace (<2 mph), had a 48% lower risk for prostate cancer progression.
Bottom Line: It is important for all patients, especially men with prostate cancer, to exercise. It just might make you live longer.
Tags: cancer progression, exercise, prostate cancer, prostate gland
Dr. Neil Baum's Urology Blog 
March 2, 2012 at 1:15 pm |
Your point is very well taken, and the research is there. But just so your readers know, the studies support the benefits of exercise–in terms of side effects, recurrence, and mortality rates–for all types of cancer. I did an extensive survey at http://wp.me/p22afJ-Go and the proof is in the pudding: time to lace up those shoes!