Gastroesophageal Cancer Risk Lessened By Regular Exercise

Regular, moderate-to-vigorous exercise is associated with significant reductions in the risk of gastroesophageal adenocarcinomas, but the mechanism behind the relationship are unclear, according to a recent study.

Several recent studies have suggested a potential relationship between regular physical activity and reduced risk of esophageal cancers. In order to further explore this relationship, researchers conducted an analysis of data from studies of 54 abstracts and 26 supplemental articles on the subject of physical activity and esophageal or gastric cancer.
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Overall, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was associated with a 20% to 30% reduction in the risk of gastroesophageal adenocarcinomas, with a significant dose/response relationship.

Benefits were observed to be greater in women than in men, and greater for noncardia than cardia or esophageal tumors.

The researchers suggested that mechanisms behind the association could include reduction in visceral fat or a lesser likelihood of smoking and alcohol consumption.

“From the viewpoint of the practicing clinician, the main lesson seems that regular moderate-to-vigorous physical activity can reduce the risk of cancer not only for the colon and the breast, but also for the stomach and the esophagus. The decrease of risk among those who maintain an active lifestyle is of sufficient magnitude to provide one more strong reason for advocating a substantial volume of regular moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and the challenge is to persuade those who are currently sedentary to adopt such a lifestyle.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Shephard RJ. Cancers of the Esophagus and Stomach: Potential Mechanisms Behind the Beneficial Influence of Physical Activity. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. 2017;27(4):415-421.