Improving fitness may be linked to a 35% lower risk of prostate cancer, study finds

January 30, 2024

Plenty of research has linked regular exercise to a lower risk of cancer, but a new study suggests that getting into better shape could reduce the risk of prostate cancer in particular, a diagnosis that around 113 out of every 100,000 men get every year in the U.S.

The research, published Tuesday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, showed that men whose cardiorespiratory fitness improved by 3% or more annually over five years, on average, were 35% less likely to develop prostate cancer than men whose cardiorespiratory fitness declined by 3% annually. That was true regardless of men’s fitness levels when they started out. NBC News