A study shows that women who exercise regularly have a lower risk of a breast condition that often leads to cancer.

Researchers at the University of California have been interested in the factors influencing breast carcinoma in situ (BCIS), a condition where abnormal cells develop in the breast ducts or lobules. The condition is often picked up on a mammogram, and can progress to breast cancer.

The researchers studied 567 women with BCIS and 616 women without. They found that those who exercised for more than four hours a week have a 47 per cent lower risk of BCIS than those who were inactive. But the reduced risk applied only to women who did not have a family history of breast cancer. The researchers argue that exercise might lower the levels of female hormones that otherwise might stimulate the growth of abnormal breast cells.

Source

Cancer on-line 6th October 2003