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Exercise reduced risk for colon polyps

Issue: May 25, 2011

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Digestive Disease Week 2011

CHICAGO — Patients with colon cancer who exercised at least 1 hour per week developed fewer polyps compared with those who did not exercise.

In results scheduled to be presented May 8 at Digestive Disease Week 2011 in Chicago, Nelson Sanchez, MD, a hospitalist with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, said the results suggest that even low-intensity exercise reduces the risk for colon polyps.

"Many patients reported walking or climbing stairs as their form of exercise," Sanchez said during a pre-conference in advance of the meeting. "We infer from that that even light physical activity likely confers a protective benefit. We also found that those who exercised for 3 years or more also had increased protection from colon polyps."

When researchers controlled for age, sex, race and BMI, patients who performed at least 1 hour of weekly exercise were less likely to develop polyps, regardless of location, compared with those who exercised less (OR=0.69; 95% CI, 0.52-0.91).

Previous studies have shown that exercise had a protective effect for polyps, but those results were of limited value because of the use of sigmoidoscopy alone or because of a lack diversity in the screening population. To determine whether exercise held benefits for a multi-ethnic population, researchers enrolled 982 patients, of whom 56.8% were Hispanic, 20.6% were Asian, 15.2% were black and 7% were white.

BMI was at least 25 in 61.4% of patients, and 52.2% reported exercising for at least 1 hour per week.

Overall, the prevalence of colon polyps was 29.5%; prevalence was 33.2% among those who did not exercise vs. 25.3% for patients who exercised 1 hour or more per week. Sanchez said there was also lower prevalence of adenomas for those who exercised, 13.8% vs. 18.9%.

There was a similar protective effect for exercise in patients with a BMI of at least 25 against any adenoma (OR=0.60; 95% CI, 0.39-0.93) and any advanced adenoma (OR=0.37; 95% CI, 0.16-0.88).

When researchers evaluated the effect of exercise by race or ethnicity, Hispanics who exercised benefited the most (OR=0.47; 95% CI, 0.29-0.76) for protection against adenomas. For advanced adenomas, blacks who exercised benefited the most (OR=0.16; 95% CI, 0.03-0.77).

"Blacks are disproportionally impacted by colon cancer, with the highest prevalence of morbidity and mortality in the United States," Sanchez said. "That physical activity reduces the risk in this population has great public health implications. Hopefully, initiatives in the future can promote physical exercise among this population.“ – by Jason Harris

For more information:

• Sanchez NF. #Su1545. Presented at: Digestive Disease Week 2011; May 7-10; Chicago.

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