Exercise can cut risk from prostate cancer

London: Prostate cancer patients who regularly exercise vigorously appear to lower their risk of dying from their disease, a new research has suggested.

The 18-year study by a team from the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of California found that three hours a week or more of vigorous physical activity seems to improve the prognosis among such patients.

And those who did more vigorous activity had the lowest chance of dying prematurely from the disease -- cutting the risk by 60 per cent, said the researchers.

"This is good news for men living with prostate cancer who wonder what lifestyle practices to follow to improve cancer survival," study author Stacey Kenfield of Harvard School of Public Health was quoted as saying by Daily Mail.

Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. It affects thousands of men and every year more than 250,000 die from it worldwide.

For the study, the researchers looked at 2,705 men diagnosed with the disease, with participants reporting how long they spent doing physical activity such as walking,running and swimming each week.

They found that men who did vigorous activity had a 61 per cent lower risk of a prostate cancer-related death than men who did less than an hour of vigorous activity a week.

However, it was found that even moderate physical activity appears to lower the overall risk of dying from any cause.

Compared with men who walked less than 90 minutes a week at an easy pace, those who walked 90 or more minutes at a normal to very brisk pace had a 46 per cent lower risk of dying from any cause, the researchers said.

Dr Kenfield said those with prostate cancer "should do some physical activity for their overall health, even if it is a small amount", such as 15 minutes a day.

She added: "However, doing vigorous activity for three or more hours per week may be especially beneficial for prostate cancer, as well as overall health."

Dr Helen Rippon, of The Prostate Cancer Charity, said: "If the results from this study of 2,705 men could be applied to all men with prostate cancer, the effect could be as significant as reducing the risk of death by more than half."

But she advised people to speak to their GPs before drastically changing their fitness regimes. The findings of the new study are appeared online in

the Journal of Clinical Oncology.