Does ‘Extreme’ Exercise Raise Colon Cancer Risk?

Recent headlines draw premature conclusions about a potential link between long-distance running and precancerous adenomas.

Last week, several media outlets — including The New York Times — covered a provocative new “study” suggesting ultramarathoners may face a higher risk of colon cancer. The catch? This study exists only as a conference abstract. It hasn’t been peer-reviewed or published in full. That hasn’t stopped headlines from making it sound like an established fact. Not unusual in mainstream science reporting — but it’s not responsible, either. Some of these headlines (like the one from the NY Post) are laughably disingenuous.

Once a narrative reaches the public, it’s hard to correct it, and fear mongering over a small, yet-to-be-published study does more harm than good.

So, let’s talk about it.

Ultrarunning, marathoning, and colon cancer risk

Dr. Timothy Cannon and colleagues (from the Inova Schar Cancer Institute in Maryland) enrolled 100 endurance athletes aged 35–50…