Single Exercise Session Raises Anti-Cancer Protein Levels

Researchers in Australia report that just one exercise session can elevate levels of anti-cancer proteins in men with advanced prostate cancer. The levels reported by the team at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in the journal Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases were even sufficient to suppress tumor growth, even at advanced states of disease.

“The findings from our work are particularly exciting because we report for the first time ever that men with advanced prostate cancer are able to produce an acute elevation in anti-cancer molecules called myokines in response to a single bout of vigorous exercise,” says Professor Rob Newton, a researcher at ECU’s Exercise Medicine Research Institute (EMRI) and study supervisor. “This is helping us to understand why patients with cancer who exercise exhibit slower disease progression and survive for longer.”

Previous work from EMRI had shown men with advanced prostate cancer can change the chemical environment of their body over six months of exercise training to suppress growth of cancer cells. They observed increased levels of myokines, which are produced by skeletal muscles and can suppress tumor growth and even help actively fight cancerous cells by stimulating a range of anti-cancer processes in the body.

The most recent EMRI study showed that even single bout of exercise can elevate myokines even further and induce additional cancer suppression. Nine patients with late-stage prostate cancer performed 34 minutes of high intensity exercise on a stationary cycle, with blood serum collected immediately before and after, and then again 30 minutes post-workout. The team also found the serum obtained immediately after this “dose” of exercise contained elevated levels of anti-cancer myokines resulting in suppressed growth of prostate cancer cells in vitro by around 17 per cent.

Importantly, this exercise-induced medicine occurs in patients with incurable, advanced cancer where the disease has well and truly taken hold and patients have already received extensive treatment over many years. “These patients are palliative, so there is no cure, and they will eventually succumb – however, there is evidence that exercise will extend survival and the increased myokine levels explored in our recent paper is a prime mechanism,” Newton adds.

Serum myokine levels and cancer suppression returned to baseline after 30 minutes.

Professor Newton said more research needs to be done, but the study’s results could influence advice given to cancer patients.

“The optimal dose of exercise is not yet known, but it is likely to be 20-plus minutes each day and must include resistance training to grow the muscles, increase the size and capacity of the internal pharmacy, and stimulate the myokine production,” he said. “This study provides strong evidence for the recommendation patients with prostate cancer, and likely anybody with any cancer type, should perform exercise most days, if not every day, to maintain a chemical environment within their body which is suppressive of cancer cell proliferation.”