Recreational physical activity and brain cancer risk in Canadian adults

Brain cancer is a debilitating and lethal form of cancer with little know about its prevention. A population-based case-control study was conducted with 643 histologically confirmed incident brain cancer cases and 3106 population controls aged 20-76 years from seven Canadian provinces to assess the impact of recreational physical activity on brain cancer in 1994-1997. Results of significance were in female subjects only. Compared to female subjects in the lo west respective quartiles of moderate, strenuous and total recreational physical activity, subjects in the highest respective quartiles had multi-variable adjusted odds ratios of 0.52 (95%CI: 0.35-0.79), 0.82 (95% CI: 0.56-1.20), and 0.57 (95% CO: 0.37-0.86). Physical activity particularly benefited women who smoked more than 10 pack-years and those with a body mass index below 25 kg/m2. This study provides further support that physical activity plays an important role in the prevention of disease.