Exercise leads muscles to release proteins called myokines into the bloodstream, which Edith Cowan University's Exercise Medicine Research Institute has shown can limit tumor growth and also actively attack cancer cells.
Overweight prostate cancer patients participated in a 12-week clinical study in which they were given blood samples before and after the exercise routine. The samples were then applied directly to live prostate cancer cells by the researchers. Professor Robert Newton, the study's supervisor, said the conclusions help understand why cancer develops relatively slower in patients who work out.
Professor Newton noticed substantial inhibition of the development of living prostate cancer cells when he combined their pre-exercise and post-exercise blood and put it over live prostate cancer cells. That's a big deal, implying that regular exercise produces a cancer-fighting atmosphere in the body. Jin-Soo Kim, a Ph.D. candidate, and study lead, stated that while myokines might tell cancer cells to slow down or stop growing, they couldn't destroy them on their own. Myokines, on the other hand, can collaborate with other blood cells to aggressively combat cancer.
Professor Newton added that exercise can be used in conjunction with other prostate cancer treatments like androgen deprivation therapy, which is both effective and better prescribed but can cause a significant loss of lean muscle mass and a gain in fat mass. This can lead to sarcopenic obesity, decreased health, and cancer. All of the research subjects were obese and on androgen deprivation treatment, yet the exercise routine helped them to keep their lean mass while reducing fat. The research focuses on prostate cancer since that is the most common non-skin cancer in men and has a high mortality rate; however, Professor Newton stated the findings might have a broader impact.
Edith Cowan University is conducting more research, including a six-month fitness program for people with advanced-stage prostate cancer. Professor Newton said preliminary findings were positive, even though conclusions are still waiting. These people have a lot of illness, a lot of treatment side effects, and they're sick, yet they can still make anti-cancer drugs from within. It's significant because it might explain why men with advanced cancer who are physically active don't perish quickly.