Fitness, Health

Study Shows How High Intensity Exercise May Lessen The Risk Of Metastatic Cancer

Sixty and Me

Ask any health expert and they will tell you that aerobic exercise helps reduce many unwanted medical conditions. And to support this even more, new research was published in the November 15 issue of Cancer Research that aerobic exercise may also help reduce the risk of metastatic cancer by at least 72 percent.

Notably, this study is also the first to investigate the way exercise impacts the internal organs where metastases normally develops, such as the lymph nodes, lungs, and liver.

As the study findings show, its high-intensity aerobic exercise, which normally gets its energy from sugar, that can help reduce metastatic cancer risk. This was shared in a press release by the research leads, Carmit Levy, PhD, and Yftach Gepner.

They said, “If so far the general message to the public has been ‘be active, be healthy’, now we can explain how aerobic activity can maximize the prevention of the most aggressive and metastatic types of cancer.”

Cancer Risk and Physical Activity

As for this study, the researchers saw evidence that higher physical activity levels may lower cancer risk from self-reported observational studies, following people for years in order to see if they eventually develop different types of cancer.

The National Cancer Institute also claims that there is heavy evidence that shows the link between higher levels of physical activity and a lower risk of different kinds of cancer. They also share that some possible reasons for this lowered risk are due to reduced inflammation, the prevention of high blood levels of insulin, helping prevent obesity, improving the function of the immune system, many of which are risk factors for a variety of cancers.

Vigorous Exercise Related to the Reduction of Metastatic Cancer in Mice and in Humans

For the study, the research team included participants of both mice and humans, where the mice were trained using a strict exercise program, and otherwise healthy human participants were examined before and after they were made to run.

Moreover, human data was also taken from an epidemiological study of over 20 years, which monitored at least 2,734 people. Throughout that time, at least 243 cancer cases were recorded, but what researchers discovered was that there were 72 percent less metastatic cancers in those participants who claimed to do regular exercise at high intensity levels as compared to those that didn’t engage in any physical activities.

As for the mice, they also showed similar results, which the research team chose to use to look at this particular animal model in order to better comprehend what could have led to this type of reduction in cancer. What they saw was that the aerobic activity in mice had a significant effect on reducing the development of metastatic tumors in the lungs, liver and lymph nodes of the mice.

Dr. Levy shared, “Examining the cells of these organs, we found a rise in the number of glucose receptors during high-intensity aerobic activity — increasing glucose intake and turning the organs into effective energy-consumption machines, very much like the muscles.”

Notably, the authors also claim that this occurs because of the organs having to compete for sugar resources within the muscles, since they are the ones known to burn higher quantities of glucose during intense physical exercise. The results showed that when there is less glucose, or so-called energy, for the cancer to metastasize in the first place.

In addition, Levy explains that for people that practice regular exercise, this condition actually becomes permanent, meaning the tissues of internal organs change, making them equivalent to muscle tissue. She also shared, “Our study, examining the internal organs, discovered that exercise changes the whole body, so that the cancer cannot spread, and the primary tumor also shrinks in size.”

 

The Data Also Supports Their Earlier Findings On Exercise, Breast Cancer Mortality and Its Recurrence

Medical director of breast surgery at the John Shore University Medical Center at Hackensack Meridian Healthin New Jersey, Roshani Patel, MD, said that while this is a good study, there is a need to be careful in how the observations from mice to human patients are translated. Notably, Dr. Patel was not part of the study.

However, Dr. Patel also shared that the reduction in metastatic cancer seen in the study does support the same findings of other research. She explains, “There’s data that shows that exercise will reduce the risk of mortality from breast cancer by 46 to 50 percent and reduce the risk of recurrence by 31 to 50 percent, depending on which study we look at. By recurrence, we’re talking about both local but also metastatic recurrence of the cancer.”

High-Intensity Exercise Is the Most Beneficial for Cancer Prevention, Researchers Believe

Dr. Gepner said, “Our results indicate that unlike fat-burning exercise, which is relatively moderate, it is a high-intensity aerobic activity that helps in cancer prevention. If the optimal intensity range for burning fat is 65 to 70 percent of the maximum pulse rate, sugar burning requires 80 to 85 percent — even if only for brief intervals.”

This is also why the study authors believe that people should add high intensity exercise into their regular exercise routines. Dr. Gepner added, “For example, a one-minute sprint followed by walking, then another sprint. It must be emphasized that physical exercise, with its unique metabolic and physiological effects, exhibits a higher level of cancer prevention than any medication or medical intervention to date.”

Being Active Is Important to Prevent All Types of Cancer

Dr. Patel goes on to share that in general, the findings are a great reminder that people should be active and follow the guidelines on physical activity, explaining, “Trying to be active and less sedentary is important for prevention of any cancer.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), their suggested exercise regimen is to do 150 minutes of moderate exercise, like brisk walking, or 75 minutes of intense exercise, such as jogging or running every week, including another two or more days of muscle-strengthening activities.