Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Exercise and breast cancer prevention

  • Published:
Current Oncology Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Epidemiologic research continues to confirm a strong inverse association between physical activity and breast cancer risk. New studies suggest that activity during adolescence is most important for premenopausal breast cancer. Long-term activity patterns are clearly important for postmenopausal breast cancer, although recent activity often highly correlates with long-term activity, accounting for its influence on risk. Whether physical activity has greater influence on estrogen receptor- or progesterone receptor-negative breast cancers or affects receptor-negative and receptor-positive tumors equally remains a question. Studies have established that lower sex hormone levels likely explain lower breast cancer risk in physically active women. Overall, the evidence regarding physical activity and breast cancer risk highlights the importance for young women to adopt a physically active lifestyle that is maintained throughout life and for medical practitioners to counsel patients and prescribe exercise for its critically important health benefits, which include reducing a woman’s breast cancer risk.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References and Recommended Reading

  1. Mahoney MC, Bevers T, Linos E, Willett WC: Opportunities and strategies for breast cancer prevention through risk reduction. CA Cancer J Clin 2008, 58:347–371.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Vainio H, Bianchini F, eds: IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention, vol 6: Weight Control and Physical Activity. Lyon, France: IARC Press; 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bull FC, Armstrong T, Dixon T, et al.: Physical inactivity. In Comparative Quantification of Health Risks: Global and Regional Burden of Disease Due to Selected Major Risk Factors. Edited by Ezzati M, Lopez A, Rodgers A, Murray C. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2004:729–881.

    Google Scholar 

  4. World Cancer Research Fund/ American Institute for Cancer Research: Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective. Washington, DC: American Institute for Cancer Research; 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Monninkhof EM, Elias SG, Vlems FA, et al.: Physical activity and breast cancer: a systematic review. Epidemiol 2007, 18:137–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Kohl HW, LaPorte RE, Blair SN: Physical activity and cancer. An epidemiological perspective. Sports Med 1988, 6:222–237.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Friedenreich CM, Courneya KS, Bryant HE: The lifetime total physical activity questionnaire: development and reliability. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1998, 30:266–274.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Maruti SS, Willett WC, Feskanich D, et al.: A prospective study of age-specific physical activity and premenopausal breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 2008, 100:728–737.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Bernstein L, Henderson BE, Hanisch R, et al.: Physical exercise and reduced risk of breast cancer in young women. J Natl Cancer Inst 1994, 86:1403–1408.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Bernstein L, Ross RK, Lobo RA, et al.: The effects of moderate physical activity on menstrual cycle patterns in adolescence: implications for breast cancer prevention. Br J Cancer 1987, 55:681–685.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Carpenter CL, Ross RK, Paganini-Hill A, Bernstein L: Lifetime exercise activity and breast cancer risk among post-menopausal women. Br J Cancer 1999, 80:1852–1858.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Bernstein L, Patel AV, Ursin G, et al.: Lifetime recreational exercise activity and breast cancer risk among black and white women. J Natl Cancer Inst 2005, 97:1671–1679.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Yang D, Bernstein L, Wu AH: Physical activity and breast cancer risk among Asian-American women in Los Angeles. Cancer 2003, 97:2565–2575.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Gilliland FD, Li Y-F, Baumgartner K, et al.: Physical activity and breast cancer risk in Hispanic and non-Hispanic White women. Am J Epidemiol 2001, 154:442–450.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. John EM, Horn-Ross PL, Koo J: Lifetime physical activity and breast cancer in a multiethnic population: The San Francisco Bay Area Breast Cancer Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2003, 12:1143–1152.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Suzuki S, Kojima M, Tokudome S, et al.: Effects of physical activity on breast cancer risk: findings of the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008, 17:3396–3401.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Schmidt ME, Steindorf K, Mutschelknauss E, et al.: Physical activity and postmenopausal breast cancer: effect modification by breast cancer subtypes and effective periods in life. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008, 17:3402–3410.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Dallal CM, Sullivan-Halley J, Ross RK, et al.: Long-term recreational physical activity and risk of invasive and in situ breast cancer. Arch Int Med 2007, 167:408–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Patel AV, Press MF, Meeske K, et al.: Lifetime recreational physical activity and risk of breast carcinoma in situ. Cancer 2003, 98:2161–2169.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Enger SM, Ross RK, Paganini-Hill A, et al.: Body size, physical activity, and breast cancer hormone receptor status: results from two case-control studies. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2000, 9:681–687.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Kruk J: Intensity of lifetime physical activity and breast cancer risk among Polish women. J Sports Sci 2009, 27:437–445.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Peters TM, Schatzkin A, Gierach GL, et al.: Physical activity and postmenopausal breast cancer risk in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009, 18:289–296.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Howard R, Leitzmann M, Linet M, Freedman D: Physical activity and breast cancer risk among pre- and postmenopausal women in the U.S. Radiologic Technologists cohort. Cancer Causes Control 2009, 20:323–333.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Patel AV, Calle EE, Bernstein L, et al.: Recreational physical activity and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer in a large cohort of US women. Cancer Causes Control 2003, 14:519–529.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. MacMahon B, Cole P, Brown J: Etiology of human breast cancer: a review. J Nat Cancer Inst 1973, 50:21–42.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. McManus MJ, Welsch CW: The effects of estrogen, progesterone, and human placental lactogen on DNA synthesis on human breast ductal epithelium maintained in athymic mice. Cancer 1984, 54:1920–1927.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Laidlaw IJ, Clarke RB, Howell A, et al.: The proliferation of normal human breast tissue implanted into athymic nude mice is stimulated by estrogen but not progesterone. Endocrinol 1995, 136:164–171.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Chang KJ, Lee TT, Linares-Cruz G, et al.: Influence of percutaneous administration of estradiol and progesterone on human breast epithelial cell in vivo. Fertil Steril 1995, 63:785–791.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Henderson BE, Ross RK, Bernstein L: Estrogens as a cause of human cancer: the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation award lecture. Cancer Res 1988, 48:246–253.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Chlebowski RT, Kuller LH, Prentice RL, et al.: Breast cancer after use of estrogen plus progestin in postmenopausal women. N Engl J Med 2009, 360:573–587.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Ross RK, Paganini-Hill A, Wan PC, Pike MC: Effect of hormone replacement therapy on breast cancer risk: estrogen versus estrogen plus progestin. J Natl Cancer Inst 2000, 92:328–332.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Coyle YM: Physical activity as a negative modulator of estrogen-induced breast cancer. Cancer Causes Control 2008, 19:1021–1029.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Ellison PT, Lager C: Moderate recreational running is associated with lowered salivary progesterone profiles in women. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1986, 154:1000–1003.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Warren M: The effects of exercise on pubertal progression and reproductive function in girls. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1980, 51:1150–1157.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Frisch RE, Gotz-Welbergen AV, McArthur JW, et al.: Delayed menarche and amenorrhea of college athletes in relation to age at onset of training. JAMA 1981, 246:1559–1563.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Verkasalo PK, Thomas HV, Appleby PN, et al.: Circulating levels of sex hormones and their relation to risk factors for breast cancer: a cross-sectional study in 1092 pre- and postmenopausal women (United Kingdom). Cancer Causes Control 2001, 12:47–59.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Atkinson C, Lampe JW, Tworoger SS, et al.: Effects of a moderate intensity exercise intervention on estrogen metabolism in postmenopausal women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2004, 13:868–874.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Jasienska G, Ellison PT: Energetic factors and seasonal changes in ovarian function in women from rural Poland. Am J Hum Biol 2004, 16:563–580.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Jasienska G, Ziomkiewicz A, Thune I, et al.: Habitual physical activity and estradiol levels in women of reproductive age. Eur J Cancer Prev 2006, 15:439–445.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Schmitz KH, Lin H, Sammel MD, et al.: Association of physical activity with reproductive hormones: the Penn Ovarian Aging Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007, 16:2042–2047.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. van Gils CH, Peeters PHM, Schoenmakers MCJ, et al.: Physical activity and endogenous sex hormone levels in postmenopausal women: a cross-sectional study in the Prospect-EPIC Cohort. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009, 18:377–383.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Matthews CE, Chen KY, Freedson PS, et al.: Amount of time spent in sedentary behaviors in the United States, 2003–2004. Am J Epidemiol 2008, 167:875–881.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Salmon J, Booth ML, Phongsavan P, et al.: Promoting physical activity participation among children and adolescents. Epidemiol Rev 2007, 29:144–159.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Pereira MA, Kriska AM, Day RD, et al.: A randomized walking trial in postmenopausal women: effects on physical activity and health 10 years later. Arch Intern Med 1998, 158:1695–1701.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Grandes G, Sanchez A, Sanchez-Pinilla RO, et al.: Effectiveness of physical activity advice and prescription by physicians in routine primary care. Arch Int Med 2009, 169:694–701.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Task Force on Community Preventive Services: Recommendations to increase physical activity in communities. Am J Prev Med 2002, 22:67–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Kahn EB, Ramsey LT, Brownson RC, et al.: The effectiveness of interventions to increase physical activity: a systematic review and. Am J Prev Med 2002, 22:73–107.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Neilson HK, Friedenreich CM, Brockton NT, Millikan RC: Physical activity and postmenopausal breast cancer: proposed biologic mechanisms and areas for future research. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009, 18:11–27.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Population Sciences, Division of Cancer Etiology, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center and Beckman Research Institute, 1500 East Duarte Road, Building 173, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA

    Leslie Bernstein

Authors
  1. Leslie Bernstein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Leslie Bernstein.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bernstein, L. Exercise and breast cancer prevention. Curr Oncol Rep 11, 490–496 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-009-0066-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-009-0066-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation