Lifetime total physical activity and prostate cancer risk: a population-based case–control study in Sweden

Abstract

The etiologic role of physical activity in prostate cancer development is unclear. We assessed the association between lifetime total physical activity and prostate cancer risk in a Swedish population-based case-control study comprising 1,449 incident prostate cancer cases and 1,118 unaffected population controls. Information regarding physical activity was obtained via a self-administered questionnaire assessing occupational, household, and recreational activity separately at various ages throughout an individual's lifetime. Clinical data (TNM-classification, Gleason sum and PSA) was obtained from linkage to the National Prostate Cancer Registry. Overall, we observed no association between lifetime total physical activity and prostate cancer risk (odds ratio [OR] = 1.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.77-1.41 for > or =49.7 vs. <41.9 metabolic equivalent-hours per day). There was a significantly increased risk of prostate cancer in the most active men compared with the least active men in household (OR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.08-1.92) and recreational physical activity (OR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.16-2.10). Comparing the most active with the least active men, total physical activity was not associated with either localized disease (OR = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.67-1.34) or advanced disease (OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 0.83-1.71). These findings do not support the hypothesis that physical activity uniformly protects against prostate cancer development.

A prospective study of lifetime physical activity and prostate cancer incidence and mortality

“…Two case -control studies have included a measure of lifetime PA (Friedenreich et al, 2004;Wiklund et al, 2008); one found a non-significant decrease in prostate cancer risk for lifetime recreational activity (Friedenreich et al, 2004), whereas the contrary was found in the other study (Wiklund et al, 2008). No cohort study has examined detailed measures of lifetime PA in relation to prostate cancer incidence or mortality.…”

Physical Activity from Early Adulthood and Risk of Prostate Cancer: A 24-Year Follow-Up Study among Icelandic Men

“…The study used recent physical activity, not lifetime physical activity (36). A few case-control studies have analyzed combined recreational and occupational physical activity and prostate cancer risk, two studies reported reduced risk for the most active men (8, 37), whereas others have found borderline association (38) or no association (9,39). Only two of the studies (8, 9) used lifetime physical activity.…”

“…Importantly, it is not known whether persistent activity or physical activity during specific periods of life affects prostate cancer risk (3,5). Moreover, very few studies have assessed the role of detailed lifetime physical activity, including both early life activity and combined recreational and occupational activity (7)(8)(9).…”

Potential for prostate cancer prevention through physical activity

“…Of the 22 studies reviewed, 14 used a cohort design [13, 14, 16-18, 22, 23, 26, 29-34] and eight used a case-control design [12,15,19,20,24,25,27,28]. Thirteen studies were conducted in North America (Canada and the United States) [12-14, 16, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 33, 34], eight were conducted in Europe (England, Greece, Norway and Sweden) [17,18,23,25,27,29,31,32], and one was conducted in Asia (China) [15].…”