Exercise and Cancer Prevention: Current Evidence and Future Directions

Abstract

Establishment of the strong putative relationship between exercise and risk of virtually all non-communicable diseases prompted several research groups over the past two decades to investigate a question of significant public health concern: whether exercise lowers the risk of certain forms of cancer. In this Opinion review I first overview studies of exercise in cancer prevention summarizing evidence from observational studies and available clinical trials. In the final section, I consider the next steps in the continued development of exercise as a cancer prevention strategy.