title: Physical activity and risks of esophageal and gastric cancers: a meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The incidence of esophageal and gastric cancer has been increasing rapidly worldwide in recent years, although the reason for this increase is unclear. Here, a statistical synthesis of studies that evaluated the association between physical activity, a well-known protecting factor against death and other chronic diseases, and the risk of esophageal and gastric cancer was performed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Potentially suitable studies were identified using Medline and Embase. The reference lists of all included articles and those of several recent reviews were searched manually. Studies were included if they (1) were published as case-control or cohort studies evaluating the association between physical activity and risk of esophageal or gastric cancer; and (2) reported point estimates (i.e., risk ratios, odds ratios) and measures of variability (i.e., 95% confidence intervals [CIs]) for physical activity and risk of esophageal or gastric cancer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifteen studies were identified (7 cohorts, 8 case-controls; 984 esophageal and 7,087 gastric cancers). Collectively, they indicated that the risk of gastric cancer was 13% lower among the most physically active people than among the least active people (RR = 0.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.78 to 0.97) and that of esophageal cancer was 27% lower (RR = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.56 to 0.97).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pooled results from observational studies support a protective effect of physical activity against both esophageal and gastric cancer.
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Yi
authors: Y
authors: Chen
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Chaohui
authors: C
authors: Yu
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Youming
authors: Y
authors: Li
mesh_terms: D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D009043:Motor Activity; D017594:Publication Bias; D012307:Risk Factors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology*