Exceeding the current exercise recommendations of 2.5 hours of moderate intensity physical activity per week, and running may be better for breast cancer survival, according to a recent study.

Previous studies have shown that breast cancer survivors who meet current exercise recommendations are at a 25 percent lower risk of dying from breast cancer. In the latest study, researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California found that those who ran instead of walked, exceeding the intensity recommendations, had greater protection against the disease.

"If I were a breast cancer survivor, I would certainly consider running or some other vigorous exercise over walking, and I wouldn't just be doing the minimum, with the consequences and potential benefit being so great," researcher Paul Williams said in a statement.

For the study, researchers followed 986 breast cancer survivors as part of the National Runners' and Walkers' Health Study for nine years. During the course of the study 33 of 714 walkers and 13 of the 272 runners had died from breast cancer, according to a press release.

Researchers found that there was significantly less mortality in those who ran than walked. The runners' risk for mortality decreased more than 40 percent metabolic equivalent (MET) hours per day of exercise, one MET hour equals a little less than a mile of brisk walking or about two-thirds of a mile of running.

Runners that ran more than 2 and a quarter miles per day were at 95 percent lower risk for breast cancer mortality than those that did not meet the current exercise recommendations. In contrast, the walkers' risk for breast cancer mortality decreased a non-significant 5 percent per MET hour per day.

Williams said the study does not disprove the benefit of walking, but he believes that the research shows that exceeding the current exercise recommendations is probably better than simply meeting them, and that running may be better than walking.