Cancer is a diagnosis you don’t want to get, but there are reasons to be optimistic. Death rates for many cancers are dropping. In the past 30 years, cancer death rates have declined by 30%, driven by a reduction in people who smoke. Habits make a difference since most cancer cases are a product of lifestyle rather than genetics. Research finds that only 5 to 10% of cancers are related to genetic defects.
Still, the best way to lower your risk of dying of cancer is to prevent it in the first place. According to cancer.org, exercise may reduce the risk of 13 types of cancer, including liver cancer, esophageal cancer, kidney cancer, stomach cancer, multiple myeloma, breast cancer, colon and rectal cancer, bladder cancer, lung cancer, uterine cancer, myeloid leukemia, and head and cancer. These are some of the most common cancers people get, and exercise plays a role in preventing all of them.
Scientists are still studying ways that exercise lowers the risk of cancer, and it’s likely multifactorial. However, certain factors intrigue scientists released into the bloodstream during exercise. These factors are called myokines, small proteins secreted by muscle tissue that helps muscle cells communicate with other organs and tissues in the body, including all organs, bones, and fatty tissue. Researchers are looking at their role in cancer prevention and even cancer treatment. Guess when your muscles release the most myokines? Yep! During exercise.
Exercise, Myokines, and Cancer
When serum from breast cancer patients who had recently exercised was added to breast cancer cells in culture, it made the cancer cells less likely to survive. The researchers didn’t see this benefit when they added serum from women who didn’t work out. Why would serum from people who had just worked out reduce the growth of breast cancer cells? The prime candidate for these benefits is myokines.
When you launch into an exercise session, assuming it’s intense enough, your adrenal glands also release stress hormones called norepinephrine and epinephrine, hormones responsible for activating your nervous system. But these hormones may have other benefits. Studies show that epinephrine and norepinephrine cause more immune cells, including natural killer (NK) cells to enter the bloodstream to fight cancer cells and tumors. In mice studies, myokines and epinephrine, and norepinephrine slow cancer cell growth.
More frequent exercise sessions may be more beneficial than one workout a day or a workout every other day. Every time you engage in a workout, you get more myokine release. One study found that each exercise session reduced the viability of tumor cells by up to 15%. But if you work out multiple times per week, your muscles shoot more myokines and stress hormones into your bloodstream to tackle cancer cells. Myokines and stress hormones released during exercise may serve as a form of surveillance against cancer cells.
Other Ways Exercise May Lower Cancer Risk
Regular exercise training has other benefits that may affect the odds of developing cancer. Exercise helps modulate the immune system and reduce low-grade inflammation, a problem that plays a role in many health conditions, including cancer. Plus, physical activity improves insulin sensitivity and reduces insulin-like growth factor one (IGF-1) in the blood. IGF-1 increases cell proliferation and spurs tumor growth. Studies link higher levels of IGF-1 with an increased risk of cancers of the prostate, breast, colon, rectum, and lungs.
Plus, regular physical activity, particularly aerobic exercise, reduces estrogen and its impact on breast tissue. That’s one reason physically active women have a lower risk of estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer. However, scientists point out that these effects are most significant in women who also lose weight. Women with more body fat also have higher levels of estrogen. In addition, body fat, particularly deep belly fat, produces chemicals that boost low-grade inflammation.
What makes the role of myokines so intriguing is that they may have benefits even if exercise doesn’t lead to weight loss, and more frequent sessions may be better, as each session triggers the release of a fresh round of myokines, and the stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine. Eating a healthy diet plays a role in reducing cancer risk, but exercise should also be on your cancer prevention agenda.
The Bottom Line
Although there’s much more to learn about the role of exercise and cancer prevention, The American Cancer Society recommends people meet the exercise guidelines of getting 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise weekly or 75 minutes of high-intensity exercise each week and try to maintain a healthy body weight. That’s sound advice for anyone concerned about their odds of developing cancer. Also, know your family history. If you’re at high risk of a certain type of cancer, you may need to begin screening earlier. Your risk is higher if you have close relatives who developed a certain form of cancer, especially if they developed it before the age of 50.
Keep exercising for your overall health too. Exercise is one of the most effective ways to maintain mental and physical health and reduce the risk of chronic health problems. It lowers inflammation and improves insulin sensitivity, which is important for reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes and cancer. Exercise also makes it easier to maintain a healthy weight, which lowers the risk of many other diseases. Staying physically active is also vital for mental health and avoiding the negative effects of too much sitting. The health benefits of exercise are too compelling to pass up! Make it part of your stay-lean-and-healthy fitness plan.
References:
- org. “Exercise Linked With Lower Risk of 13 Types of Cancer”
- The-Scientist.com. “Regular Exercise Helps Patients Combat Cancer”
- “Insulin-like growth factors and cancer – The Lancet Oncology.” 01 May. 2002, https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(02)00731-3/fulltext.
- The Lancet Oncology. VOLUME 3, ISSUE 5, P298-302, MAY 01, 2002.
- com. “Cancer Deaths Are Down Nearly 30%: Here’s Why”
- Journal of Immunology Research. Volume 2018 |Article ID 8260742 | https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/8260742.
- Kim, JS., Galvão, D.A., Newton, R.U. et al. Exercise-induced myokines and their effect on prostate cancer. Nat Rev Urol 18, 519–542 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-021-00476-y
- Anand P, Kunnumakkara AB, Sundaram C, et al. Cancer is a preventable disease that requires major lifestyle changes [published correction appears in Pharm Res. 2008 Sep;25(9):2200. Kunnumakara, Ajaikumar B [corrected to Kunnumakkara, Ajaikumar B]]. Pharm Res. 2008;25(9):2097-2116. doi:10.1007/s11095-008-9661-9.
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