Is Physical Inactivity Linked to Lung Cancer Risk?
Posted: Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Lifetime physical inactivity may be an independent and prognostic factor for lung cancer, according to findings published in Cancer Treatment and Research Communications. Positive associations between cancer risk and mortality were observed regardless of a patient’s weight or smoking history, concluded Rikki Cannioto, PhD, EdD, MS, of the Department of Cancer Prevention and Control at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, and colleagues.
“What is significant is this increased risk was found even in people who had never smoked and were not overweight,” Dr. Cannioto said in a Roswell Park press release. “This adds to the growing body of evidence that, much like smoking or obesity, physical inactivity is an independent but modifiable risk factor for cancer.”
Dr. Cannioto and colleagues analyzed data from 660 patients with lung cancer and 1,335 matched cancer-free controls from the Patient Epidemiology Data System at Roswell Park. Patients were considered physically inactive if they did not participate in any regular or weekly recreational activity throughout their lifetime, prior to diagnosis.
Researchers found a positive association between physical inactivity and lung cancer risk, with an odds ratio of 2.23. Those same associations existed among never smokers (odds ratio, 3.00), and nonsmokers (odds ratio, 2.33). A connection was also observed between lifetime physical inactivity and lung cancer mortality, with a hazard ratio of 1.40. Again, the association remained significant in nonsmokers as well, with a hazard ratio of 1.51.
“Additional intervention-based research should aim to address whether the associations of physical inactivity with lung cancer endpoints reflect a causal pattern,” the study concluded.
