Even a modest amount of exercise may lower the risk of developing – and dying from – ovarian cancer, two new studies show.



Ovarian cancer is the most deadly female cancer. Although it accounts for only 3 percent of cancers among women, it causes more deaths than any other malignancy of the female reproductive tract.



But knowing how much exercise is enough to prevent health problems is confusing, but two recent studies led by the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y. show that years of physical inactivity prior to ovarian cancer diagnosis is associated with increased risk.



The first study, published online in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, evaluated nine studies from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium, and included 8,309 ovarian cancer patients and a control group of 12,612 women without cancer.



Women who reported a lifetime of recreational physical inactivity had a 34 percent increased risk of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer — findings that are similar to the results of a companion study in cervical cancer. The association between inactivity and ovarian cancer risk was seen in both normal-weight and overweight or obese women.



The second study, published in the British Journal of Medicine, included 6,806 women diagnosed with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer, and evaluated the association between recreational physical inactivity in the years prior to diagnosis and the risk of mortality after diagnosis. Inactive women had between 22 percent and 34 percent higher risk of mortality compared to women reporting at least some regular weekly activity.



Since there are few proven ways to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer – and since there has been little treatment in progress – women should want to do everything they can to reduce their chance of developing the disease, the researchers say.



"Given the poor prognosis, many women want to know what they can do to reduce their risk of getting ovarian cancer and to improve their prognosis once diagnosed. These studies suggest that regular physical activity could help,” says Penny Webb, co-author of both papers.











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