Energy balance
Higher levels of physical activity, particularly vigorous intensity, are inversely associated with the risk of developing breast cancer in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women.
Engage in regular physical activity, aiming for vigorous intensity when possible, as it significantly lowers breast cancer risk for women of all ages. If vigorous exercise is not feasible, total or recreational activity still provides protective benefits, though less pronounced than vigorous activity.
Higher physical activity was inversely associated with both pre- and postmenopausal breast cancers... Vigorous physical activity was statistically significantly inversely associated with premenopausal breast cancer risk... Significant inverse associations for physical activity and postmenopausal breast cancer risk were observed across all domains in the highest versus the lowest meta-analyses, except for walking
Why this rating
Based on a large systematic review and meta-analysis of 126 observational cohort studies comprising over 125,000 cases, though observational design limits causal inference compared to RCTs.
Source
World Cancer Research Fund International: Continuous Update Project—systematic literature review and meta-analysis of observational cohort studies on physical activity, sedentary behavior, adiposity, and weight change and breast cancer risk
Doris S.M. Chan et al. · Cancer Causes & Control · 2019
DOI 10.1007/s10552-019-01223-w
More from this paper
- Increased body adiposity, specifically higher BMI and adult weight gain, significantly increases the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, particularly for hormone receptor-positive (HR+) tumors.Good
- Higher early adult BMI (ages 18-30) is inversely associated with breast cancer risk in both pre- and postmenopausal women, suggesting a protective effect of higher adiposity during young adulthood.Good
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