Physical activity and survival among men diagnosed with prostate cancer

Few studies have investigated the association between post-diagnosis physical activity and mortality among men diagnosed with prostate cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of physical activity after a prostate cancer diagnosis on both overall and prostate cancer-specific mortality in a large cohort.

Data from 4,623 men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer 1997-2002 and followed-up until 2012 were analyzed. HRs with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models to examine the association between post-diagnosis recreational MET-h/d, time spent walking/bicycling, performing household work or exercising, and time to overall and prostate cancer-specific death. All models were adjusted for potential confounders.

During the follow-up, 561 deaths of any cause and 194 deaths from prostate cancer occurred. Statistically significantly lower overall mortality rates were found among men engaged in ≥5 recreational MET-h/d (HR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.52-0.77), walking/bicycling ≥20 min/d (HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.57-0.86), performing household work ≥1 h/d (HR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.59-0.86), or exercising ≥1 h/wk (HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.61-0.90), compared with less active men within each activity type. For prostate cancer-specific mortality, statistically significantly lower mortality rates were seen among men walking/bicycling ≥20 min/d (HR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.43-0.87) or exercising ≥1 h/wk (HR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.48-0.94).

Higher levels of physical activity were associated with reduced rates of overall and prostate cancer-specific mortality.

Our study further strengthens previous results indicating beneficial effects of physical activity on survival among men with prostate cancer.