Physical activity reduces the risk of colon cancer, but its prognostic impact after cancer diagnosis remains unclear. To evaluate the association between post-diagnosis activity and cause-specific mortality, we reconstructed a colorectal cancer patient cohort from the 2009-16 Korean National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) database. Subgroup analyses were performed by treatment group. In total, 27,143 colon cancer patients and 16,453 rectal cancer patients were included in the analysis (mean follow-up, 4.3 years; median 4.0 years). In the surgically treated group, a high level of activity (the weighted sum of the frequencies for walking, moderate, and vigorous activity greater than or equal to 3 times/week) was inversely associated with all-cause mortality (colon cancer: HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.72 to 0.88; rectal cancer: HR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.66 to 0.86) and colorectal cancer-specific mortality (colon cancer: HR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.76 to 0.97; rectal cancer: HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.66 to 0.90). No significant results were shown for cardiovascular disease-specific mortality. No association was shown in patients who received chemoradiotherapy without surgery. The present study may provide evidence for post-diagnosis physical activity as a prognostic factor in colorectal cancer, particularly in surgically treated early-stage patients.
Keywords: cancer; colorectal neoplasms; exercise; physical activity; survival.