A woman is more likely to survive breast cancer if she walks a little every week, researchers have discovered. Even a few hours of walking improve a woman’s chances of surviving cancer compared with those who did little or no exercise.
Women who walked three to five hours a week had the lowest risk of death from breast cancer, and even women who walked more than an hour a week had a better survival rate than women who did no exercise at all.
Of the 2,987 women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer between 1984 and 1998, 92 per cent were still alive 10 years later if they walked for three or more hours a week, 89 per cent of those who walked for one to three hours a week were still alive, while 86 per cent those who walked less than an hour a week had survived 10 years’ since initial diagnosis.