Exercise may increase the effectiveness of anticancer drugs and increase survival rates, a study suggests.
Scientists discovered that proteins released by the body to help repair muscles worn out by exercise also attack cancer cells.
After testing their theory in mice, they analyzed data from a human trial of 75 pancreatic cancer patients.
One group was asked to do one hour of strength-training exercise and 90 minutes of aerobic exercise per week before undergoing surgery to remove their tumors.
Those who followed the six-week training program had a five-year overall survival rate that was 50 percent higher than those who didn’t follow the regimen.
Scientists have long touted the benefits of exercise in terms of reducing the risk of developing cancer, but this study suggests that it might also help people with the disease.
Scientists have found that people and mice with pancreatic cancer who undergo an exercise regimen are better able to fight off the disease (file image)
Researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York found that making mice with cancer exercise for 30 minutes five times a week reduced the rate of cancer formation by 50 percent.
Another test in which mice regularly ran on a treadmill for three weeks reduced tumor weight by 25 percent.
Inducing adrenaline through exercise was found to stimulate the body to produce more of a protein called interleukin-15.
This, in turn, increases the ability of CD8 T cells, a cell of the immune system, to attack and kill pancreatic cancer cells.
The researchers then analyzed the results of a human clinical trial in 2017.
These patients were asked to perform 30-minute strengthening exercises, which could include resistance bands, weight lifting, or yoga, twice a week.
They were also told to take a brisk walk for 30 minutes at least three times a week.
They followed the regimen for six weeks before undergoing operations to remove their cancers.
Regular blood tests showed that the patients who exercised had more CD8 T cells.
And looking at health records, the researchers found that these patients also had 50 percent higher overall survival rates after five years.
The NYU researchers said the results of their study showed for the first time how even small amounts of exercise could help treat pancreatic cancer.
They said this was critical for pancreatic cancer, as it has such limited treatment options.
Scientists hope the discovery will eventually lead to better treatment for people with this disease, which is often detected too late, leaving patients with few options.
Dr. Emma Kurz, an oncology expert and lead author of the study, said: “Our findings show, for the first time, how aerobic exercise affects the immune microenvironment within pancreatic tumours.”
“The work helped reveal that activation of IL-15 signaling in pancreatic cancer could be an important treatment approach in the future.”
To further test the theory, the scientists also tested whether exercise could improve traditional cancer therapies in mice.
On its own, this immunotherapy was found to increase the production of cancer-killing cells by 66 percent.
But the production of cancer-killing cells increased 175 percent when the mice underwent an exercise regimen.
NYU Grossman Professor Dafna Bar-Sagi, a biochemist and another author of the study, said the results showed the potential that exercise could have for treating pancreatic cancer.
“The fact that even mild exercise can profoundly alter the environment in tumors points to the potential of this approach in treating patients with devastating disease burden and few options,” he said.
The researchers said they now plan to organize another clinical trial exploring the impact of exercise in pancreatic cancer patients.
They published their findings in the journal cancer cell.
Pancreatic cancer is extremely deadly in part because of how difficult it is to detect and treat.
About 95 percent of people who get it die from it.
Around 9,000 Britons die of pancreatic cancer each year. The figure is around 50,000 in the US.
The best chance of curing the cancer is surgery to remove the cancerous tissue, but only 10 percent of people have this option, as it is usually only detected when the tumor has already begun to spread to other parts of the body.
NHS advice states that adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity a week.
They should also do muscle-strengthening exercises at least two days a week.
.
