Physical activity and survival among men diagnosed with prostate cancer

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

This study investigated the effect of physical activity after a prostate cancer diagnosis on both overall and prostate cancer-specific mortality in a large cohort. Researchers analysed data from 4,623 men with localized prostate cancer diagnosed between 1997 and 2002 who were followed-up until 2012. The investigators estimated hazard radios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) using Cox proportional hazards models to examine the association between postdiagnosis activities such as walking/bicycling, performing household work, or exercising and time to overall and prostate cancer-specific death. The investigators found statistically significantly lower overall mortality rates among men who engaged in higher levels of reactional activity, walking/bicycling for 20 minutes or more per day, performing household work for 1 hour or longer per day, or exercising for 1 hour or more per week compared with less active men within each activity type. Prostate cancer-specific mortality rates were also statistically significantly lower among men walking/bicycling for 20 minutes or more per day or exercising for 1 hour or more per week. In conclusion, these study results associated higher levels of physical activity with reduced rates of overall and prostate cancer-specific mortality. The investigators conclude that their findings further strengthen previous studies indicating the beneficial effects of physical exercise on survival among men with prostate cancer.