Table 1.

Characteristics of studies included in the meta-analysis.

References	Age (years)	Location	Study cohort	Size of cohort	Number of cases	Exposure measurement	Outcome measurement	Follow-up	Confounding adjustments
Albanes et al. (35)	25–74	US	US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) and NHANES I Epidemiological Follow-up	5,138 men and 7,407 women	114	Non-recreational activity and recreational activity	hospital record or death certificate review	median: 10 years	Age, cigarette smoking status and pack-year history, economic status, reproductive and family breast cancer history, BMI, or dietary fat or energy intake
Severson et al. (36)	30+	US	Japan-Hawaii Cancer Study	8,006	194	Non-recreational activity and recreational activity	Cancer registry	1965–1986	Age, body mass index, cigarette smoking
Knekt et al. (34)	30+	Europe	Mini-Finland Health Survey	3,245	70	Leisure-time exercise	Cancer Registry	14 years	Age
Thune and Lund, (37)	20-49	Europe	Population based Health Survey	1,04,485 men and women	464	Leisure activity and work activity	Cancer Registry	1972–1991	Age at entry, geographical region, smoking habits, number of cigarettes smoked, years smoked and body mass index.
Lee et al. (2)	Mean: 58 years	US	The Harvard Alumni Health Study	13,905	245	Non-recreational activity and recreational activity	Self-reported and death certificates	1985–1997	Age, cigarette smoking, body mass index
Wannamethee et al. (38)	40–59	Europe	The British Regional Heart Study (BRHS)	7,588	265	Non-recreational activity and recreational activity	death certificates; cancer registry, postal questionnaires	Mean: 18.8 years	Age, smoking, body mass index, alcohol intake and social class
Colbert et al. (39)	50–69	Europe	Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study	29,133	1,442	Usual occupational and leisure time physical activity	Cancer Registry	1985–1997	randomization
Alfano et al. (10)	Mean: 63years	US	Beta-Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET)	7,405	263	Sleeping, vigorous activity, moderate activity, light activity, and sitting	cancer registries, state boards of health, and the National Death Index	<5 years	Age, education level, ethnicity, gender, marital status, employment, and household structure, Health-Related Variables
Schnohr et al. (9)	20–93	Europe	The Copenhagen Center for Prospective Population Studies	28,000	228	Leisure-time physical activity	Cancer registry and National Central Person Register	14 years	Age, birth cohort, cohort membership and occupational physical activity, smoking, education and alcohol consumption, duration of smoking, and interaction between smoking status and duration
Sprague et al. (3)	43–86	US	University of Wisconsin Extension-Survey Research Laboratory	4,831	134	Total physical activity	Cancer Registry, death certificates, and the National Death Index	12.8 years	Age, sex, pack-years of smoking, time since smoking cessation, body mass index, alcohol intake, and education
Yun et al. (4)	40+	Asia	The National Health Insurance Corporation Study (NHICS)	4,44,963	1,574	Leisure-time physical activity	Cancer registry	6 years	Age, dietary preference, LPA, smoking status, amount of alcohol drinking, body mass index, employment and fasting blood sugar as appropriate
Inoue et al. (8)	45–74	Asia	Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study	79,771	532	Total physical activity	notification from the major hospitals in the study area, cancer registries, and Death certificates	1995–2004; Average: 7.5 years	Age, area, total energy intake, history of diabetes, smoking status, alcohol intake status, body mass index, and leisure-time sports or physical exercise.
Laukkanen et al. (5)	42–60	Europe	Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study	2,268	52	Total physical activity	Cancer registry and death registry	16.7 years	Age and examination year, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, waist-to-hip ratio, SES and total caloric, fiber and fat intake.
Land et al. (11)	<65 years (>80% subjects)	US	The National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (P-1) NSABP-1	13,388	66	Leisure-time physical activity	clinical examinations and pathology reports	7 years	Randomization
Sormunen et al. (40)	35–94	Europe	Finland Athletic Sample	2,448	87	Leisure-time physical activity	Cancer registry	1986–2010	Age, smoking status and pack-years of smoking
Moore et al. (6)	19–98	US and Europe	The Physical Activity Collaboration of the National Cancer Institute's Cohort Consortium	1,436,624	19,133	Leisure-time physical activity	Multiple methods	median: 11 years	Age, sex, smoking status, alcohol consumption, education, and race/ethnicity.
Wang et al. (17)	50–79	US	Women's Health Initiative Observational Study (WHI-OS) and Clinical Trial (WHI-CT)	1,29,401	2,148	Leisure-time physical activity	medical and pathology records review	11.8 years	Age, race/ethnicity, BMI, family history of cancer, personal history of cancer, history of asthma, history of emphysema or chronic bronchitis, smoking, education, alcohol intake, vitamin D use, hormone therapy, oral contraceptive use, hysterectomy status, NSAID use, servings of fruit, vegetables, and red meat
Patel et al. (18)	50–74	US	CPS-II Nutrition Cohort	1,84,185	1,905	Leisure-time physical activity	medical records and linkage with state cancer registries	14 years	Age, sex, race, sitting time, marital status, prevalent disease (emphysema or other lung diseases), education, cigarettes per day and smoking duration, fruits and vegetables consumption, and Body mass index
Laaksonen et al. (7)	18+	Australia	Australian cancer-PAF cohort consortium	3,67,058	2,025	Leisure-time physical activity	Australian Cancer Database and National Death Index	10 years	Age, sex, study, smoking, fruit consumption
Borch et al. (12)	30–70	Europe	Norwegian Women and Cancer Study (NOWAC)	86,499	866	Total physical activity	Cancer Registry	12.9 years	Body mass index, years of education, smoking status and pack-years, fruit consumption, birth cohort