Regular exercise could stop middle-aged men dying from lung and colorectal cancer, according to findings from a 20-year American study

The findings will be presented June 2, 2013 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago, Ill.

“While poor fitness is already known to predict future cardiovascular disease, this is the first study to explore fitness as a marker of future cancer risk prognosis,” says lead study author Susan Lakoski, M.D., assistant professor of medicine and director of the cardiovascular prevention program for cancer patients at the University of Vermont/Fletcher Allen Health Care.

“This finding makes it clear that patients should be advised that they need to achieve a certain fitness level, and not just be told that they need to exercise. And unlike exercise behavior, which relies on patient self-reporting, fitness can be objectively and accurately measured in a clinical setting.”

The study included 17,049 men who had a single cardiovascular fitness assessment as part of a specialised preventive health check-up visit at a mean age of 50 years offered at the Cooper Institute.

Researchers subsequently analysed Medicare claims data to identify the 347 deaths due to cancer and 159 men died of cardiovascular disease.

Researchers found that the risk of being diagnosed with lung or colorectal cancer was reduced by 68 and 38 percent, respectively, in men who were the most fit, relative to those who were the least fit. Fitness did not significantly impact prostate cancer risk. In the analysis, data were adjusted for smoking and other factors, such as body mass index and age.

Among the men who developed cancer, those who were more fit at middle age had a lower risk of dying from all the three cancers studied, as well as cardiovascular disease. Even a small improvement in fitness (by 1MET) made a significant difference in survival ? reducing the risks of dying from cancer and cardiovascular disease by 14 and 23 percent, respectively.

The research was supported by the National Cancer Institute.