Sedentary behavior and cancer-an umbrella review and meta-analysis.
Level 1 - systematic review of randomized trials
Umbrella review and meta-analysis synthesizing existing meta-analyses and systematic reviews
PubMed 35612669 · doi:10.1007/s10654-022-00873-6
What was done
Authors conducted an umbrella review and meta-analysis searching PubMed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Database for systematic reviews and meta-analyses examining sedentary behavior (SB) in relation to cancer incidence and mortality, alongside recent observational studies not yet included in existing syntheses. Summary risk estimates were re-calculated using random effects models across 14 meta-analyses covering 17 cancer sites from 77 original studies, with an assessment of risk of bias.
What was found
High sedentary behavior was associated with increased cancer mortality and increased incidence of six specific cancers: - Ovarian cancer: RR = 1.29 (95% CI = 1.08–1.56) - Endometrial cancer: RR = 1.29 (95% CI = 1.16–1.45) - Colon cancer: RR = 1.25 (95% CI = 1.16–1.33) - Breast cancer: RR = 1.08 (95% CI = 1.04–1.11) - Prostate cancer: RR = 1.08 (95% CI = 1.00–1.17) - Rectal cancer: RR = 1.07 (95% CI = 1.01–1.12) - Cancer mortality: RR = 1.18 (95% CI = 1.09–1.26) Most associations between SB and specific cancer sites were classified as supported by a "suggestive" level of evidence.
Why it matters
This review synthesizes the meta-analytic literature to demonstrate that prolonged sedentary time is consistently linked with small to moderate elevations in both cancer mortality and specific site-level cancer incidence.
Limits
The primary evidence base relies entirely on observational studies subject to residual confounding, exposure misclassification, and reverse causation. The abstract explicitly notes that most specific cancer-site associations met only a "suggestive" level of evidence.
Cited by
- supports Sedentary time is an independent risk factor for higher all-cause mortality and increased cancer risk.