Abstract 2552: Influence of age, sex, colorectal cancer status, and mutation carrier status on physical activity in families with Lynch syndrome
Authors: Pande Mala , Glombicki Stephen , Basen-Engquist Karen , Jenkins Mark A. , Win Aung Ko , You Y Nancy , Perterson Susan K. , Lynch Patrick M. 
Published: July 2016

Lynch syndrome (LS) is due to inherited mutations that impair DNA mismatch repair (MMR) and predispose mutation carriers to an increased risk of colorectal (CRC) and other cancers. Physical activity (PA) reduces risk for sporadic CRC but little is known about the effect of PA on CRC risk in LS. We examined the influence of demographic and clinical characteristics on PA in LS mutation carriers and their unaffected relatives.

Self-reported PA data by decades of life: during the 20's (early), 30-40's (mid), and 50's and older (late) decades, from a retrospective cohort of LS subjects and their relatives enrolled in the Colon Cancer Family Registry were analyzed. Metabolic equivalent (MET) PA values were derived for each activity and standardized to MET hours/week. Mean PA by decade was compared across 3 groups: MMR mutation carriers (MMR+) with and without cancer, and non-carrier relatives (MMR-).

We analyzed 3,261 subjects (1,413 MMR-, 1052 MMR+ with no CRC and 796 MMR+ with CRC). PA was inversely associated with age. Men had higher levels of PA in the early and mid-decades than women. In their 20s, MMR- women had higher levels of PA on average than MMR+ women but there were no significant differences by MMR or CRC status in the mid and later decades. For men, there was no difference in mean PA by MMR+ status in the early or mid-decades, but in the later decades, MMR- men had higher PA than MMR+. Furthermore, mean PA in the mid-decades was significantly higher in MMR+ men with CRC than MMR+ with no CRC.

In this descriptive analysis, men and women had higher levels of PA at younger ages, although men exercised more than women in the early and mid-decades. Levels of mean PA were comparable for MMR+ men and women with and without CRC except in the mid-decades where MMR+ men with CRC had higher levels of PA than MMR+ men without CRC. Recall bias for higher PA in CRC cases cannot be ruled out.

Comparison of mean physical activity in early, mid and late decades of life by sex, MMR mutation carrier status, and colorectal cancer status Mean MET hours/week of Physical activityEarly decade (20s)Mid-decades (30s-40s)Later decades (50s and above)MaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemaleSex33.5*25.6*20*16.7*11.110.8Non-carrier33.927.1*20.917.312.8*11.1MMR carrier33.224.4*19.216.29.8*9.3MMR carrier no cancer33.824.516.3*15.88.88.9MMR carrier with cancer32.624.522.2*16.910.89.8*starred pairs indicate a significant (p&lt;0.05) difference in mean MET hours/week of PA between the groups

Citation Format: Mala Pande, Stephen Glombicki, Karen Basen-Engquist, Mark A. Jenkins, Aung Ko Win, Y Nancy You, Susan K. Perterson, Patrick M. Lynch. Influence of age, sex, colorectal cancer status, and mutation carrier status on physical activity in families with Lynch syndrome. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2552.