Cardiorespiratory fitness and smoking-related and total cancer mortality in men.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and smoking-related, nonsmoking-related, and total cancer mortality in men.


METHODS
We followed 25,892 men, age 30-87 yr, who had a preventive medical evaluation, including a maximal exercise test and self-reported health habits. There were 335 cancer deaths (133 from smoking-related cancer, 202 from nonsmoking-related cancer) during an average of 10 yr of follow-up (259,124 man-yr).


RESULTS
After adjustment for age, examination year, smoking habits, alcohol intake, body mass index, and diabetes mellitus, there was an inverse association between cardiorespiratory fitness levels and smoking-related (P < 0.001 for trend), nonsmoking-related (P = 0.001 for trend), and total cancer mortality (P < 0.001 for trend). Moderate and high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness were associated with lower risk of smoking-related and nonsmoking-related cancer mortality when compared with low fitness in men. We also observed that smoking-related mortality rates were progressively lower across low, moderate, and high fitness groups in former (P = 0.06 for trend) and current (P = 0.04 for trend) smokers.


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that cardiorespiratory fitness may provide protection against cancer mortality in men.
Lee
Chong Do
CD
Division of Epidemiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Blair
Steven N
SN
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002320:Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012143:Respiratory Physiological Phenomena; D012306:Risk; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000401:mortality*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology