Discoveries
Dropping pounds can reduce risk of pancreatic cancer
Chalk up another reason to exercise regularly and keep off the pounds. A study by researchers at Dana-Farber, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and the Harvard School of Public Health has found that pancreatic cancer rates are much higher in people who are substantially overweight and physically inactive than in those who are physically fit and maintain a normal weight.
Charles Fuchs, MD
The work provides the strongest evidence yet that people can take steps, in addition to not smoking, to reduce their chances of developing pancreatic cancer, a notoriously difficult-to-treat disease, says senior author Charles Fuchs, MD, of Dana-Farber's Adult Oncology Department.
An analysis of data from two large epidemiologic studies found that people classified as obese were 72 percent more likely to develop pancreatic cancer than people of normal weight. The analysis also found that men and women who walk or jog four or more hours per week had a 50 percent lower risk of pancreatic cancer than those who exercise less than 20 minutes weekly.
Pancreatic cancer is the fifth-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, and is diagnosed in almost 30,000 people every year. Only 3 percent of those with the disease are alive five years after diagnosis.
The study demonstrates that "moderate exercise on a regular basis can substantially reduce one's chances of developing pancreatic cancer, as can losing weight for those who are seriously overweight," Fuchs comments.
These findings appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
