AACR Logo Men diagnosed with prostate cancer have to walk briskly for at least three hours a week, says the following study. According to a novel analysis, brisk walking greatly enhances the outcome of prostate cancer. This activity may delay or even restrict progression of the disease.

The study included a total of 1,455 men suffering from prostate cancer that had not spread beyond the prostate. Patients had to fill in a questionnaire about 27 months after their diagnosis and prior to any evidence of recurrence or second treatment. This questionnaire surrounded questions about the subject’s level of physical activity. Approximately 117 events, including biochemical recurrences (elevations in PSA), secondary treatments, bone metastasis and prostate cancer-specific death were seemingly recorded.

It was pointed out that, men who walked briskly for at least three hours a week supposedly had a 57 percent lower rate of progression of disease than those who walked at an easy pace for less than three hours a week. Lead investigator Erin Richman, Sc.D., a research associate at the University of California, San Francisco and colleagues mention that the benefit from walking significantly depends on how quickly an individual walked. The study findings apparently have great significance for prostate cancer patients worldwide.

The study is published in the journal Cancer Research.