This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Sign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Physical exercise and reduction in risk of cancer

Authoring team

Exercise and incidence of cancer

  • investigation of vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (VILPA) in short bouts (<= 1 and <=2 minutes) incident cancer among nonexercising adults
    • in this prospective cohort study of 22,398 self-reported nonexercising adults, a minimum dose of 3.4 to 3.6 minutes of VILPA per day was associated with a 17% to 18% reduction in total incident cancer risk compared with no VILPA

    • a median daily VILPA of 4.5 minutes was associated with a 31% to 32% reduction in physical activity-related cancer incidence

    • findings of this large cohort study suggest that 3 to 4 minutes of VILPA per day may be associated with decreased cancer incidence risk; thus, VILPA may be a promising intervention for cancer prevention among individuals unable or unmotivated to exercise in leisure time

A cohort study demonstrated that balanced levels of MPA (moderate physical activity), VPA, and MSA (muscle strengthening activity) combined may be associated with optimal reductions of mortality risk (1)

  • higher-than-recommended levels of MPA and VPA may further lower the risk of cancer and all-cause mortality, respectively

Association between physical activity (PA) intensity and certain cancer sites, such as breast and colon cancers, is dose dependent and has a greater risk reduction associated with vigorous physical activity (VPA) compared with lower intensities (2)

  • vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (VILPA) refers to brief and sporadic (eg, up to 1-2 minutes [min]) bouts of VPA during daily living, eg, bursts of very fast walking or stair climbing (3)

Reference:

  • Stamatakis E, Ahmadi MN, Friedenreich CM, et al. Vigorous Intermittent Lifestyle Physical Activity and Cancer Incidence Among Nonexercising Adults: The UK Biobank Accelerometry Study. JAMA Oncol. Published online July 27, 2023. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2023.1830
  • Matthews CE et al. Amount and intensity of leisure-time physical activity and lower cancer risk.J Clin Oncol. 2020;38(7):686-697.doi:10.1200/JCO.19.02407
  • Stamatakis E et al. Untapping the health enhancing potential of vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (VILPA): rationale, scoping review, and a 4-pillar research frameworks. Sports Med. 2021;51(1):1-10. doi:10.1007/s40279-020-01368-8

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.