Got Breast Cancer? Exercise Lowers Mortality

Physical activity in breast cancer survivors: A systematic review and meta-analysis on overall and breast cancer survival.

Photo by Sarah Cervantes on Unsplash

There is evidence that higher levels of exercise are associated with a lower risk of several cancer types. Today, we turn to breast cancer. Here is what you need to know:

In a 2019 systematic review, the most active breast cancer survivors had a 42 percent lower chance of death from any cause (during the study period), and a 40 percent lower risk of breast cancer mortality than the least physically active.

Here’s what the researchers did to quantify the association between physical activity after breast cancer diagnosis and all-cause death, breast cancer mortality, and breast cancer recurrence.

Investigators searched PubMed until November 2017 for observational studies investigating any physical activity associated with total mortality, breast cancer mortality, and breast cancer recurrence among women with a breast cancer diagnosis.

They included ten studies in the overview. Follow-up ranged from 3.5 to 12.7 years. Compared to women in the lowest recreational physical activity level, those in the highest level had a lower risk of all-cause mortality (42 percent lower…