A longitudinal study that gathered data from more than one million people over 11 years found clear relationships between exercise and reduced risk of cancer.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is considered particularly significant not only for the length of the study and number of participants, but for the very direct links between exercise and certain types of cancer.

The major finding: People who exercised regularly during their leisure time at a fairly high level showed the following reduced risk of these cancers:

Esophageal adenocarcinoma: 42 percent lower risk
Liver: 27 percent lower risk
Lung: 26 percent lower risk
Kidney: 23 percent lower risk
Gastric cardia: 22 percent lower risk
Endometrial: 21 percent lower risk
Myeloid leukemia: 20 percent lower risk
Myeloma: 17 percent lower risk
Colon: 16 percent lower risk
Head and neck: 15 percent lower risk
Rectal: 13 percent lower risk
Bladder: 13 percent lower risk
Breast: 10 percent lower risk

The average age of those in the study was 59; none had been diagnosed with cancer at the outset of the study.

It wasn’t all feel-good news about the link between physical activity and cancer. The study found those who were physically active had a higher risk of having malignant melanoma — a startling 27 percent— and prostate cancer (5 percent). The latter connection puzzled the authors, who said, “there is no known biologic rationale to explain this association.”

And the study included 26 types of cancer, so exercise is hardly a guaranteed lower risk against all cancers.

The study found that the level of physical activity played a role in reducing one’s risk, as did one’s body mass index. But the latter had only a minor effect; those who exercised regularly and had a high BMI still had much lower risk of having 10 of the 13 cancers. Those with high BMI’s were more at risk for esophageal adenocarcinoma, liver cancer, gastric cardio, kidney cancer, and particularly endometrial cancer.

Instant Insights /

Strong relationship identified between exercise and cancer

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