Does Exercise Reduce the Risk of All Types of Colorectal Cancer?
A large study (which included CPS-II data) found that physical activity reduced the risk of developing both colon and rectal cancer for all subtypes, especially in men.
What did researchers want to learn?
Previous research has shown that physical activity can help lower the chances of getting colorectal cancer. What researchers still wanted to know was if the benefit of regular physical activity was the same for all subtypes of colorectal cancer.
What did the researchers find?
Researchers from around the world (United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia) used data and samples from several large studies, including the American Cancer Society (ACS) cohort study Cancer Prevention Study-II, to examine how physical activity affects the risk of developing colorectal cancer. All cases in the study were from people who had either reported their activity or had worn a wrist-accelerometer.
They found:
- Higher amounts physical activity measured by on a combination of time and intensity was associated with lower odds of developing colorectal cancer across all subtypes, which are based on the cancer’s genetic or molecular features.
- Men seemed to benefit the most from greater physical activity.
- The results were consistent for both early-onset (before age 50) and late-onset (after age 50) colorectal cancer.
- They were only able to look at the amount of physical activity and were not able to compare intensity levels.
How Much Physical Activity Do You Need?
The ACS Cancer Prevention Guideline recommends that each week adults get:
- 150 to 300 (1.5 hours to 5 hours) minutes of moderate intensity, with the upper limit of 300 or more being the ideal. You’ll know when you’re moving at a moderate intensity when it is harder to breathe, but you can still have a conversation.
OR
- 75 to 150 minutes (1 hour, 15 minutes to 2.5 hours) of vigorous intensity, with the upper limit of 150 or more being ideal. You’ll know you’re moving at a vigorous intensity when you can say a few words, but they may be choppy because of your noticeably heavier breathing.
OR
- A combination of moderate and vigorous intensity.
What do the findings mean?
This study strengthens the evidence that being physically active can lower the risk of colorectal cancer, especially for males.
Because physical activity reduces risk of all subtypes of colorectal cancer, everyone can benefit, regardless of family history or genetics.
These findings reinforce public health messages that encourage people to sit less and be more active to help prevent colorectal cancer.
Published study: “Physical activity and molecular subtypes of colorectal cancer: a pooled observational analysis and Mendelian randomization study” published in JNCI Cancer Spectrum, October 2025. American Cancer Society (ACS) coauthors were Caroline Um, PhD, MPH, RD, and Christina Newton, MSPH.
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