Good news for those of us who like to stay active (and bad news for those of us who don’t) – it turns out regular exercise may play a role in helping beat back cancer.
A study from Edith Cowan University’s Exercise Medicine Research Institute found that myokines – proteins produced by muscles and secreted into the blood during exercise – can suppress the growth of tumours, and fight cancerous cells.
The clinical trial saw obese patients with prostate cancer undergo exercise programs for 12 weeks, with blood samples taken before and after; samples were then applied to living prostate cancer cells. According to study supervisor Professor Robert Newton, the results explain the slower progression of cancers in patients who exercise.
“When we took their pre-exercise blood and their post-exercise blood and placed it over living prostate cancer cells, we saw a significant suppression of the growth of those cells from the post-training blood.
“That’s quite substantial indicating chronic exercise creates a cancer suppressive environment in the body,” he said.
The researchers believe that myokines both slow the growth of cancer cells and signal other cells – such as immune cells – to attack them. Professor Newton says that exercise could complement existing treatments such as androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), which all study participants were undergoing.
“These men have high disease burden, extensive treatment side-effects and are very unwell, but they still can produce anti-cancer medicine from within.
“It’s important as it may indicate why men even with advanced cancer, if they’re physically active, don’t succumb as quickly,” he said.
While results are still pending, the researchers are encouraged by what they have seen, and said the study could help treat all cancers – not just prostate cancer.
