Chronic Recreational Physical Inactivity and Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Risk: Evidence from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium

Rikki Cannioto, Michael J. LaMonte, Harvey A. Risch, Chi-Chen Hong, Lara E. Sucheston-Campbell, Kevin H. Eng, J. Brian Szender, Jenny Chang-Claude, Barbara Schmalfeldt, Ruediger Klapdor, Emily Gower, Albina N. Minlikeeva, Gary R. Zirpoli, Elisa V. Bandera, Andrew Berchuck, Daniel Cramer, Jennifer A. Doherty, Robert P. Edwards, Brooke L. Fridley, Ellen L. Goode, Marc T. Goodman, Estrid Hogdall, Satoyo Hosono, Allan Jensen, Susan Jordan, on behalf of The Australian Ovarian Cancer Study Group, Susanne K. Kjaer, Keitaro Matsuo, Roberta B. Ness, Catherine M. Olsen, Sara H. Olson, Celeste Leigh Pearce, Malcolm C. Pike, Mary Anne Rossing, Elizabeth A. Szamreta, Pamela J. Thompson, Chiu-Chen Tseng, Robert A. Vierkant, Penelope M. Webb, Nicolas Wentzensen, Kristine G. Wicklund, Stacey J. Winham, Anna H. Wu, Francesmary Modugno, Joellen M. Schildkraut, Kathryn L. Terry, Linda E. Kelemen, Kirsten B. Moysich

Despite a large body of literature evaluating the association between recreational physical activity and epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) risk, the extant evidence is inconclusive and little is known about the independent association between recreational physical inactivity and EOC risk. We conducted a pooled analysis of nine studies from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC) to investigate the association between chronic recreational physical inactivity and EOC risk. In accordance with the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, women reporting no regular, weekly recreational physical activity were classified as inactive. Multivariable logistic regression was utilized to estimate the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between inactivity and EOC risk overall and by subgroups based upon histotype, menopausal status, race and body mass index (BMI). The current analysis included data from 8,309 EOC patients and 12,612 controls. We observed a significant positive association between inactivity and EOC risk (OR=1.34, 95% CI: 1.14-1.57) and similar associations were observed for each histotype. In this large pooled analysis examining the association between recreational physical inactivity and EOC risk, we observed consistent evidence of an association between chronic inactivity and all EOC histotypes. These data add to the growing body of evidence suggesting that inactivity is an independent risk factor for cancer. If the apparent association between inactivity and EOC risk is substantiated, additional work via targeted interventions should be pursued to characterize the dose of activity required to mitigate the risk of this highly fatal disease.