Exercise helps fight breast cancer

Mexico City (APRO) – Scientists from Finland and Sweden conducted a study to determine the effects of intense exercise on the mobilization of anti-tumor and pro-tumor immune cells in women with breast cancer.

The study by researchers from the University of Turku in Finland and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, which won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, was published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Immunology at the end of June.

The scientists selected 19 newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, aged between 36 and 68, and had them perform 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise using a bicycle ergometer.

Blood samples were collected at different times: at rest, 15 and 30 minutes after the start of exercise, and 30 and 60 minutes after exercise. The scientists then analyzed various subsets of immune cells using flow cytometry, a method for determining the number of cells, the percentage of live cells, and certain characteristics of cells, such as size and shape.

The results showed that intense exercise increased the total number of immune cells, called white blood cells or leukocytes, such as neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes and leukocytes, such as cytotoxic T cells, also known as “natural killer cells.”

But some of the changes were transient; for example, the proportion of some cells, such as “natural killer cells,” increased, while others, such as myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), which are thought to promote tumor-associated immune suppression, decreased. The proportion of regulatory T cells, which prevent the immune system from getting out of control, remained unchanged during exercise.

Traditionally, doctors have advised patients to rest during cancer treatment, but this has changed due to the positive effects of exercise on the disease and treatment-related side effects, as well as its association with more positive prognoses.

Experts say exercise appears to be “the only effective way to reduce treatment-related fatigue” and is now recommended for cancer patients.

According to a study on sedentary behavior and cancer prevention and control, people who were more physically active were 13% less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than those who were the least active. After diagnosis, patients who were physically active had a 31% lower risk of cancer-specific mortality compared to those who were sedentary.