Regular exercise may reduce the risk of endometrial cancer

Exercising 150 minutes a week or more may decrease a woman’s risk of endometrial cancer, a study finds.

The 150-minutes-a-week idea is the recommended minimum amount for most adults. In this case, researchers from the Yale School of Public Health used it as a measure to see if it would affect rates of endometrial cancer, which starts in the tissue that lines the uterus.

They looked at data on 668 women with endometrial cancer as well as 665 women matched in age who served as the control group. Women who exercised 150 minutes a week or more had a 34% decreased risk of developing endometrial cancer than those who were sedentary.

For thinner women with a body mass index of less than 25 (including underweight women), the reduced risk was even higher: 73%, compared with women who were overweight, didn’t exericse and had a BMI of more than 25.

But if overweight women did exercise, they had a 52% decreased risk of endometrial cancer.

The study was presented Tuesday at the Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research conference in Philadelphia sponsored by the American Assn. for Cancer Research.