Study Links Exercise With Reduced Mortality in Childhood Cancer Survivors

By Kerri Fitzgerald - Last Updated: September 12, 2023

Vigorous exercise was associated with a lower risk of mortality in adult survivors of childhood cancer, according to a study published in JAMA Oncology and presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.  

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The multicenter cohort study included 15,450 adult cancer survivors who were diagnosed before age 21 at pediatric tertiary hospitals in the United States and Canada between 1970 and 1999 who were enrolled in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, with follow-up through December 31, 2013. Patients self-reported vigorous exercise in metabolic equivalent task (MET) hours per week. 

During a median follow-up of 9.6 years (interquartile range = 15.5 years), 1,063 deaths were reported: 811 were health-related, 120 were recurrence/progression of primary cancer, and 132 were external/unknown causes. 

At 15 years, the cumulative incidence of all-cause mortality was: 

  • 11.7% for those who exercised 0 MET-hours per week 
  • 8.6% for 3-6 MET-hours per week 
  • 7.4% for 9-12 MET-hours per week 
  • 8.0% for 15-21 MET-hours per week 


Among a subset of 5,689 survivors, increased exercise over an 8-year period was associated with a 40% reduction in all-cause mortality rate compared with maintenance of low exercise (rate ratio = 0.60; 95% CI 0.44-0.82; P=0.001). 

Source: JAMA Oncology 

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