Cancer breakthrough: Exercise may stop disease in its tracks

Forget bedrest, research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has shown exercise may be a key weapon in cancer patients’ battle against the disease.

Exercise causes muscles to secrete proteins called myokines into our blood – and researchers from ECU’s Exercise Medicine Research Institute have learned these myokines can suppress tumour growth and even help actively fight cancerous cells.

A clinical trial saw obese prostate cancer patients undergo regular exercise training for 12 weeks, giving blood samples before and after the exercise program.

Researchers then took the samples and applied them directly onto living prostate cancer cells.

Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise

Release date: 05 October 2021
Source: Edith Cowan University