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'Fitness can help men survive cancer'

HIGH levels of fitness in middle age can help men survive cancer, a study has found. Keeping fit reduced the chances of those who developed lung, bowel or prostate cancer dying from their disease by almost a third, the research showed. Mid-life fitness also lowered the risk of being diagnosed with lung and bowel cancer, but apparently not prostate cancer. The cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) of almost 14,000 US men was measured using treadmill tests and their health from the age of 65 was monitored for 6.5 years.

During this period, 1,310 of the group were diagnosed with prostate cancer, 200 with lung cancer and 181 with bowel cancer.

The research showed that high mid-life fitness was associated with a 55 per cent reduced risk of lung cancer and a 44 per cent lower risk of bowel cancer compared with men with low CRF readings.

However, the same association was not seen between mid-life CRF and prostate cancer.

This could simply be due to fitter men being more likely to request routine blood tests, creating a greater likelihood of prostate cancer diagnosis.