04.09.12
Breast cancer ‘less likely’ in active women
An active lifestyle can make women 13% less likely to develop breast cancer, new research suggests.
The study is part of the ongoing work by the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC), co-funded by Cancer Research UK. It looked at over 8,000 cases of breast cancer in women.
Results showed that women who were the most physically active, and whose lifestyles included exercise such as brisk walking and gardening, were found to be 13% less likely to develop breast cancer than those who were inactive.
Professor Tim Key, a Cancer Research UK epidemiologist based at the University of Oxford who works on the EPIC study, said: “This large study further highlights the benefits of being active – even moderate amounts.
“There is also a lot of evidence that exercise reduces the risk of bowel cancer. More research is needed on other types of cancer, and to investigate the mechanisms which could explain the links.”
Sara Hiom, director of information at Cancer Research UK, said: “Small changes in your daily routine can make all the difference, like taking the stairs instead of the lift or walking some of the way to work, school or the shops and add up over the course of a week.”
“Keeping active could help prevent more than 3,000 cases of cancer in the UK every year. And it can have a positive effect on your health.”
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