JAMA Netw Open

Physical activity tied to lower cancer mortality in survivors

February 18, 2026

A pooled analysis of 17,141 survivors of bladder, endometrial, kidney, lung, oral cavity, ovarian, or rectal cancer from 6 major U.S. cohorts found that even low levels of postdiagnosis moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA; >0–<7.5 metabolic equivalents of task hours per week [MET‑h/wk]) were associated with reduced cancer mortality in bladder (hazard ratio [HR], 0.67), endometrial (HR, 0.62), and lung (HR, 0.56) survivors. Higher activity levels yielded additional benefit for oral (HR, 0.39) and rectal (HR, 0.57) cancers, with favorable but nonsignificant trends in kidney cancer. Notably, lung and rectal cancer survivors who met MVPA guidelines after diagnosis had lower mortality even if previously inactive (HR, 0.58 and 0.51, respectively).

Clinical takeaway: Encourage survivors to initiate or increase MVPA after diagnosis—benefits were observed across several less‑studied cancers.

Source:

Rees-Punia E, et al. (2026, February 17). JAMA Netw Open. Leisure-Time Physical Activity and Cancer Mortality Among Cancer Survivors. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41701497/