Exercise Helps to Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer

Keeping up on our regular breast exams is an important part of reducing the risk for contracting breast cancer, particularly for women who may be older and/or overweight. As there is also a genetic component to breast cancer, those who know they are at a higher risk may want to receive regular check-ups. Yet a recent study also shows that those who are able to get regular exercise could decrease their risk for the health issue. 

Researchers compared data with least active women and found that those with the highest level of physical activity reduce their breast cancer risk by up to 12 percent.

"These are all the studies looking at the relationship between physical exercise and breast cancer risk that have been published to date, so we are confident that the results of our analysis are robust," said Professor Mathieu Boniol, Research Director at the International Prevention Research Institute, Lyon, France, via a press release. 

These results were based on a meta-analysis of 37 studies published between 1987 and 2013 that represented more than four million women.

Though results varied regarding tumor time, researchers found that women who undergo hormone replacement therapy did not benefit much from exercise.

"Adding breast cancer, including its aggressive types, to the list of diseases that can be prevented by physical activity should encourage the development of cities that foster sport by becoming bike and walk-friendly, the creation of new sports facilities, and the promotion of exercise through education campaigns," said Prof Boniol in the press release. "This is a low cost, simple strategy to reduce the risk of a disease that currently has a very high cost, both to healthcare systems and to patients and their families. It is good news both for individuals and for policy makers."

More information regarding the findings were presented at the 9^th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-9).