Exercise Helps to Reduce Risks of Endometrial Cancer

Endometrial cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women in the U.S, an d it is estimated that 80% of the risk of developing the disease can be explained by hormone and lifestyle factors.  Hannah Arem, from Yale School of Public Health (Connecticut, USA), and colleagues evaluated the relationship between physical activity and the risk of endometrial cancer, independent of body mass index (BMI).  The team  evaluated data collected from 1,333 women , including 668 with endometrial cancer.  The subjects completed questionnaires about demographics, environmental exposures, history of cancer, lifestyle factors, and other variables that might contribute to endometrial cancer risk. As well, the women shared details concerning various types of physical activity, which was calculated into metabolic equivalents (METs) with 7.5 MET hours/week equaling 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week.  After correcting for confounding variables, the researchers revealed that those women who engaged in 7.5 MET hours/week of physical activity were at 34% reduced likelihood of endometrial cancer, as compared with those who were sedentary. Further, the risk reduction was greatest in normal-weight women who were active, as compared with overweight women who were inactive.